Misery

Lindsay Crouse demonstrates chilling versatility in her taut reading of one of King's most suspenseful tales. Writer Paul Sheldon, crippled in a car accident, is rescued by obsessed fan Annie Wilkes, who nurses him in her isolated home. She is obsessed with Sheldon's series protagonist, Misery Chastain, and will stop at nothing to ensure that he writes another book even though the author has killed off his character. MISERY is a psychological thriller, as much about the relationship of storyteller to story as it is about Paul's desperate need to escape. Crouse's deft handling of Wilkes's tender moments brings us uncomfortably close to the mind the madwoman. Yet more terrifying is Crouse's interpretation of the character of Paul, who is at once repelled by his captor and attracted to the strange power that he finds in her obsession with his writing. Crouse's delivery of King's dark humor will also have listeners laughing at surprising moments. F.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

June 1, 1987
King's new novel, about a writer held hostage by his self-proclaimed "number-one fan,'' is unadulteratedly terrifying. Paul Sheldon, a writer of historical romances, is in a car accident; rescued by nurse Annie Wilkes, he slowly realizes that salvation can be worse than death. Sheldon has killed off Misery Chastain, the popular protagonist of his Misery series and Annie, who has a murderous past, wants her back. Keeping the paralyzed Sheldon prisoner, she forces him to revive the character in a continuation of the series, and she reads each page as it comes out of the typewriter; there is a joyously Dickensian novel within a novel here, and it appears in faded typescript. Studded among the frightening moments are sparkling reflections on the writer and his audience, on the difficulties, joys and responsibilities of being a storyteller, on the nature of the muse, on the differences between ``serious'' and ``popular'' writing. Sheldon is a revealingly autobiographical figure; Annie is not merely a monster but is subtly and often touchingly portrayed, allowing hostage and keeper a believable, if twisted, relationship. The best parts of this novel demand that we take King seriously as a writer with a deeply felt understanding of human psychology. One million first printing; $400,000 ad/promo; BOMC main selection.