Misery

Misery
By Stephen King
Signet, 1988. 338 pgs. Horror

Paul Sheldon has just finished writing his latest novel. As he’s driving through Colorado in celebration, a snow storm causes his car to slide off the road (not helped by his intoxication) and the crash breaks both of his legs. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the home of Annie Wilkes, his deranged “number one fan.” When she discovers that her favorite character was killed off at the end of his newest novel, she forces him to continue the story for her. Unable to escape, Paul must endure Annie’s various moods and the torture she inflicts in order to complete a new novel and hopefully, one day, escape.

Horror isn’t usually a genre I pick up, but I came across a video online of a crazed woman yelling at a sales clerk at Barnes and Nobel. I was very curious about why this woman was yelling about an author I’d never heard of. I then discovered that it was the fictional author Paul Sheldon, and this was a marketing stunt for a theater performance of Stephen King’s Misery… four years ago. I was so intrigued I had to read the book. I loved it! It was a roller coaster of intense emotions that often flipped my stomach. This is definitely not a book for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of suspense which is great, but the descriptions of Paul’s torture is pretty graphic. It’s not often that my jaw drops when reading, but it did… several times. I really loved this book, but it’s definitely not for everyone.

ACS