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|  |  | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Good Short Stories Nov 20, 2009 I really enjoyed this book. When I first started reading Steven King I was a teenager, and liked to read his short stories. He hasn't had a new story book like this in awhile and it was very refreshing. I have always really liked the characters he comes up with and was not disappointed with this book.
Not as good as I had hoped Nov 18, 2009 A few years ago I had read Everything's Eventual : 14 Dark Tales, a collection of 14 short stories by Stephen King. For years I had been a big fan of Stephen King's novels, and I had always enjoyed short stories as a genre. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Stephen King is not only able to write book-long narrative thrillers, but was equally if not more at home with the constraints that short story imposes on the writer. I saw that King's writing style is in its own right a very compelling tool that he deftly uses to keep readers interested in the story, even there is nothing supernatural or out of this world in the narrative. This sentiment had led me to look forward to The Best American Short Stories 2007 collection for which Stephen King was a guest editor. However, this collection of short stories proved to be a complete disaster - the stories were some of the most boring and unimaginative that I have ever read in the Best American series of books. It had shaken my impression of King as someone who can truly appreciate a well-crafted short story, but I still believed that it bore no relation to his own writing ability. So when I came across this new collection of his own short stories, I was very eager to give it a try. The first red flag came in the introduction. It turns out that King was inspired to write this collection by his experience as the editor of "Best American Short Stories" collection. As I read through the stories my misgivings got confirmed. The stories, by and large, turned out to be the worst of the two worlds: they had all of the discursive, aimless rambling of some of King's longer works, and none of the shocking potency of immediacy of a short story. The characters find themselves in a variety of supernatural and otherwise strange situations, but for the most part we are not sympathetic enough to their plight to care what happens to them in the end. There were a couple of stories that I genuinely enjoyed, but overall this has been a rather disappointing reading experience. I still believe that Stephen King is a great writer of suspenseful stories that reflect on some of our deepest fears and anxieties, but this collection of short stories doesn't do justice to his talent.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
I'm surprised....but I loved the book!!! Nov 03, 2009 I have to admit that when a new Stephen King book is released, I rush to buy it in hardcover. However, after the last 3 books, I was not so eager.
This one is great!! I waited until the paperback was released. BUY IT!!! I will be purchasing the hardcover edition to add to my bookshelf.
0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
TAKE MY ADVICE Nov 02, 2009 I HAVE ONLY PUT 3 BOOKS DOWN IN MY LIFE UNFINISHED AND HALFWAY THROUGH THE 3RD STORY "THE STATIONARY BIKE" I ALMOST CAVED BUT I DIDN'T BECAUSE THE FIRST 2 WERE PRETTY GOOD. THEN I GOT TO "N" ABOUT A MAN WITH AN OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DIRORDER. THIS STORY WAS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS. THE REST OF THE BOOK WAS PRETTY GOOD. SO MY ADVICE TO YOU, IS COMPLETELY SKIP THISE TWO STORIES AND YOU'LL ENJOY THE BOOK.
1 of 4 found the following review helpful:
This collection is ...BORING! Oct 29, 2009 I gave this book a chance after I stopped reading King 10 years ago when he went of the edge into the valley of boring. But after taking a chance after years I read "Duma Key" and it really surprised me! A great book!!! I thought maybe he had connected with that part of him that wrote magical horror novels. But this book of short stories is good for one thing only. Boring you to tears. If you need something to put you to sleep in 5 mins. this is your ticket. I could be polite and say "I'm so dissppointed", etc. But truth is...it just plains stinks. Don't waste your cash.
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