The Book of Counted Sorrows - Nonexistent Book

Nonexistent Book

For many years Koontz fans everywhere searched for this elusive book. Many librarians were frustrated in their attempts to locate it because it did not exist. This was confirmed by a librarian from Cedar Rapids Public Library who corresponded with Koontz regarding this mysterious book. Koontz himself stated that he received up to 3,000 letters per year inquiring about it. He includes a history of the poems in the beginning of the book, followed by the poems, some having never been in any of his books.

In a letter dated August 10, 1992, Koontz stated:

"Actually, there is no such book. I made it up. The way you made up footnote sources for fabricated facts in high-school English reports. Oh, come on, yes, you did. Sometimes, when I need a bit of verse to convey some of the underlying themes of a section of a novel, I can't find anything applicable, so I write my own and attribute it to this imaginary tome. I figured readers would eventually realize THE BOOK OF COUNTED SORROWS was my own invention, and I never expected that one day librarians and booksellers would be writing from all over the country, asking for help in tracking down this rare and mysterious volume!"

Koontz went on to say that he would publish such a book in a few years when he has enough verses to fill a volume. According to Shannon Presley of Harvest Books, "Koontz himself wrote the poems, attributed to a Stephen Crane...you can find the collected poems at http://user.xmission.com/~emailbox/koontz/sorrows.htm#Sole_Survivor".

In the beginning of a very few books (such as Odd Thomas), Koontz quotes from The Book of Counted Joys.