Favorite side characer?

I kind of like Mr. Keene. I know he's often described as being rather sour, or, as Mike puts it, "not exactly the nicest man in Derry", but he strikes me as a guy who has seen it all, and it maybe just a bit cynical. But I appreciated his talk with Eddie, his desire to make Eddie aware of Eddie's real problem. I get the feeling that as unfriendly as he might be, he does have Eddie's best interest in mind.

I liked Mike's dad. I hope we see plenty of him in the new movie. He was noticeably absent in the mini-series in my opinion.

When you say Bowers, do you mean just Henry or his whole gang? If you mean just Henry, I'd go with Vic Criss. Found him very interesting in the book, something paradoxical about him. He was a bully and a bad guy, but underneath, I wonder. If he had survived to adulthood, I wonder whether he may have turned out to be an OK guy. Certainly he was brighter than Henry or Belch and he became increasingly concerned about Henry's behavior as time went by.

If you meant Bowers' whole gang, I'd probably go with Mr. Keene. Also a very interesting character, because he is described on a few occasions as not being very nice, but it is also noted that he was patient with Bill's stutter and I also think, as hard as it was on Eddie when Keene told him about his asthma medicine and Eddie sensing that Mr. Keene was enjoying making him uncomfortable, he was ultimately trying to do something good and to help Eddie. Remember also in the book he said Mrs. Kaspbrak was always suspicious about how cheap Eddie's medicine was and that he could have soaked her for it and made a lot more money, but didn't. If he was a bad guy, I don't see why he wouldn't charge her more, especially since she was such an unpleasant and overbearing person and would happily have paid more anyway.

The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.

I'd like to give a shout out to:

* Freddy (or Frankie) Ross and his fabulous gumstick
* Vincent "Boogers" Taliendo
* The old geezer who puts dry boogers in his ears for safe-keeping

I think I find Patrick Hochstetter the most fascinating. King's most disturbing character ever?

I also particularly enjoy Richie's parents and their little interaction with him. Funny, but there is something sad about it. As if they don't care much for him.

There are so many interesting side characters in this book, though. A true testiment of King's strength in bringing them alive.

Bev's feminist friend (Kay, Kate?) as an adult was written with a good perspective. Some of her treatment was brutal.

Ben's mother, as well as his teacher. I liked the interactions.

Patrick defo. Intelligent in a psychopathic way