Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books
Stephen King's latest anthology of short stories, Just After Sunset, is quietly dazzling. It is an album of snapshots of his ability to erode the membrane between light and dark, to make the reader believe that any person, given the proper circumstances, could slip into a universe that's not quite right. Weird things happen in these tales, but they are not necessarily horrifying. The characters are living, often unawares, on the edge of reality. This latest collection of tales reminds the reader that King's characters don't always die in his short stories. Some of his unfortunates tumble into strange pockets and find themselves unable to get out. Or the opposite happens: They manage to flee against all odds and reclaim normality, or at least a tenuous substitute. As with his previous collections, this anthology presents the feeling that there are these masses of people out there waiting to be dragged into something that will change, even end, their life as they know it. Just After Sunset does this better than his previous collections. The unsettling "Willa," set in a Wyoming railroad station, is the closest thing to an original "Twilight Zone" episode to be written in years. In "N."- one of the most unorthodox pieces in the collection- King meditates about death. Just After Sunset stands for all that Stephen King has become to his readers: a gateway between us and them, between here and there. If you love King, you'll enjoy this eclectic bouquet of short stories that is not, in the end, about darkness itself, but twilight- that gray, uneasy land that lies between the prosaic texture of human days and the unending desolation of the night.Read full review
Stephen King's fifth collection of short stories. Many of the stories have previously been published in magazines. Collected stories; *The Gingerbread Girl - Esquire - July 2007 *Harvey’s Dream - The New Yorker - June 2003 *Rest Stop - Esquire - Dec. 2003 *Stationary Bike - Borderlands 5 anthology - 2003 (also release as audio in 2005) *The Things They Left Behind - Transgressions anthology - 2005 *The Cat from Hell - Cavalier - June 1977 *Willa - Playboy Dec. 2006 *Graduation Afternoon - Postscripts - March 2007 *N. - ~*Previously unpublished*~ *The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates - The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction - Oct./Nov. 2008 *Mute - Playboy - Dec. 2007 *Ayana Fall - The Paris Review - Fall 2007 *A Very Tight Place - McSweeney's, Issue 27 May 2008 "N.," the only previously unpublished story in the collection. ~ A psychiatrist recounts his experiences with a strange patient named N. N, is a amateur photographer who finds a mysterious grouping of stones in rural Maine. He says this place is a portal to another universe and he must guard it and prevent the evil creatures there from coming over to this world. King's pandora's box A very nice collection indeed. Hope this helps. - willtrib EasyCityBooks NOLARead full review
I'm a totally biased constant reader who has never disliked anything he's written, so I loved it and was entertained for hours and of course, wish it would never end. I prefer the novels over the short stories but they were nonetheless wonderful reading and I especially liked the story about the cat from hell because I currently have a cat who is quite psychotic and sometimes freaks me out but I know he loves me so I tolerate his quirkiness. This would be a perfect novel for a 1st time Kinger, not too far out there and just enough scariness to whet the appetite for a full-course meal, or in this case, novel. My theory on why everyone should read Stephen King, not just demented folks like me who have grown up reading horror and watching horror because it's, well, fun and gross, is that someday he will be seen as the Edgar Allen Poe of our generation, a classic writer worthy of acclaim outside the narrow genre of horror novelist. His characters are multi-dimensional and complex, good doesn't always win over evil and just when you think you got it figured out, something unexpected happens. However, the most important characteristic of a King novel is that it pulls you in and takes you over by its realism, created by using everyday popular advertising, songs, products, mundane activities, scenes that we can all relate to on some level. You feel a part of the story and sometimes even care about the characters and what happens in their world. On a final note. Just read the book. You'll see what I mean. I have read many of them more than once as I've matured and they are timeless classics, some more than others but all of them still worthy in their own way. DaVita Crowe 2009Read full review
Great read
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
A nice collection of short stories that keeps you turning the page! Stephen King has done it again! Don't have time to read a novel? Just read one story at a time! One of the last stories in this book was the most disturbing stories I have ever read and I read everything! It wasn't spooky disturbing. the story itself just got under my skin and wouldn't go away. I still get chills thinking about it.