Son of the Phantom. It's a novelization of the comic book "The Phantom" (also fairly obscure- although they did make a movie about the character, staring Billy Zane).

The book was completely unrelated to the comic book character. And honestly, it probably wasn't all that good. To ten-year-old me, it was the coolest thing ever. I sure wished I could have been the son of a costumed hero deep in the jungles of Africa, come back to America, become a hero on the football field, win the hand of the prettiest girl in school, and then move back to battle the bad guys (because it'd be my duty, of course).

I lost it decades ago to a tomcat who decided my bookcase was the best place to spray his ball musk. It's probably not nearly as good as I remember, so maybe that's not a bad thing.

Faulkner should be read aloud. And it's best when read in a genteel Southern accent (think Kevin Spacy in "Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil.")

I remember reading somewhere the Faulkner was extremely particular about word choice and phrasing. Every sentence is a complete thought- a statement, if you will. There's a part of "Go Down Moses" where the narrator repeatedly says "And McCaslin" - if you don't say that out loud, ponderously, you miss the impact altogether.

Faulkner's writing makes you imagine the author himself reading the book aloud to you, even when you're doing the reading. Or at least, that's been my experience.

Nice one! I agree. King would not do something like that unintentionally, and his twisted sense of humor is definitely the kind that would prompt him to include that little reference.