Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9781416584087 ISBN: 1416584080 Label: Scribner Manufacturer: Scribner Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 384 Publication Date: November 11, 2008 Publisher: Scribner Sales Rank: 33 Studio: Scribner
Editorial Review:
Product DescriptionStephen King -- who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies -- delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007, King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications.
Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating -- and then terrifying -- journey. Set on a remote key in Florida, 'The Gingerbread Girl' is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable -- and resourceful -- as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In 'Ayana,' a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, 'N.,' which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it.
Just After Sunset -- call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME
YOU FANS WILL NOT LIKE THIS, BUT I FOUND THIS BOOK TO BE A TOTAL
WASTE OF MY TIME. THANK GOODNESS I DID NOT PAY RETAIL, BUT PURCHASED
IT PRE-PUBLICATION. USUALLY I EXCHANGE MY BOOKS WITH A FRIEND IN ANOTHER
STATE BUT THIS ONE IS GOING TO BOOKMAN'S WHERE I CAN "RESELL" IT. I TRIED NOT TO GIVE IT ANY STARS BUT THAT WAS NOT ACCEPTED.
Rating: - It's ok....
I guess it is hard to be king and write short stories after you have written stories like the sun dog, the woman in the room, jerusalem's lot, and even the recently classic 1408. I have to say I was disappointed about how many stories in this book are written from a female storyteller pov. This last story I did finish was simply called N. If you enjoyed this story as much as I did, I highly recommend picking up some of hp lovecraft's work as Steve does a better job of writing the lovecraft influenced ... Read More
Rating: - Not his best short stories.
One word for most of these stories: P-r-e-d-i-c-t-a-b-l-e. There are no surprises here. What can I say about N., here's what; did anyone notice that the sister's second letter was dated June 8, but the newspaper article reporting her death was dated June 1, and the Charlie's letter to his secretary was dated June 5? So she wrote the letter after her death? Is there a proofreader or an editor on staff at Scribner?. I can't recommend this book, but if you must buy it, buy it used, as a matter of fact, ... Read More
Rating: - I like Stephen King's short stories even more than his long stories
Sometimes I feel like I have the attention span of a gnat so I love a good short story. I felt that this collection had great variety. I could hear Stephen King's voice, loud and clear, coming out in each story. His preface and endnotes were very interesting.
Rating: - so so
Heard one on CD, read a couple of others elsewhere, and the ones new to me were just average. King average. Better than most. Gingerbread was good. Waiting for the next novel to sate my appetite.
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- A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME
- It's ok....
- Not his best short stories.
- I like Stephen King's short stories even more than his long stories