Thinner
by Stephen King, Richard Bachmanpublished
September 1st 1996
(first published 1984)
by Signet
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binding
Paperback, 320 pages
isbn
0451190750
(isbn13: 9780451190758)
description
When an old Gypsy man curses Billy Halleck for sideswiping his daughter, six weeks later he's 93 pounds lighter. Now Billy is terrified. And desperate...more
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Read in August, 2008
My first completed Stephen King book! A long time ago I had attempted to read The Shining, but it creeped me out so much I couldn't finish it. I recently joined a second book club, and this was the book chosen for this month. Perhaps, this isn't a classic Stephen King novel, but it just didn't have the twistedness that I had expected from Stephen King. The main character, Billy Halleck, is an obese man, that has a very pleasant life in a small suburban community. One day, while driving thro...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Dieters, anorexics and gypsies.
Thinner by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) is a revenge novel. It tackles with the issues of blame, guilt, obesity and romany gypsy curses.
When I first started reading, I couldn't help buy compare this to Richard Matheson's The Incredible Shrinking Man. There are strong similarities to this novel so much that even Bachman refers outright to it once or twice.
Still, it has a relatively unique plot and stays fairly interesting throughout.
I couldn't help but giggle when a chara...more
When I first started reading, I couldn't help buy compare this to Richard Matheson's The Incredible Shrinking Man. There are strong similarities to this novel so much that even Bachman refers outright to it once or twice.
Still, it has a relatively unique plot and stays fairly interesting throughout.
I couldn't help but giggle when a chara...more
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Billy Halleck is a lawyer. An obese lawyer this side of a heart attack. One day as he and his wife are driving home, he hits an old Gypsy woman who happens to be jaywalking. After getting a slap on the wrist, he meets an old Gypsy man outside the courthouse who touches his cheek and whispers, "Thinner". Halleck soon begins to lose weight at an alarming rate, depsite not changing his eating habits. As his weight continues to drop, Halleck must chase after the gypsy caravan to talk the o...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Ashley by:
my grandma recommends it for: mature highschool students or adults
Thinner by Stephen King is about a lawyer, Billy Halleck, who runs over and kills an old gypsy lady. Her father, who has a nose condition, curses him as well as the sheriff and the judge; he does this because he wants justice.
Billy Halleck's curse was to get thinner, which is exactly what happens. The three hundred pound Billy eventaully turns into an unhealthy man with no fat on his body.
What happens is a mystery... read the book and you'll find out.
MOVIE- Do NOT watch the movie...more
Billy Halleck's curse was to get thinner, which is exactly what happens. The three hundred pound Billy eventaully turns into an unhealthy man with no fat on his body.
What happens is a mystery... read the book and you'll find out.
MOVIE- Do NOT watch the movie...more
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An eerie tale of a gluttonous lawyer cursed by a gypsy family whose matriarch he ran over and killed. This was certainly not my favorite "Bachman Book", but honestly, I did enjoy that whole collection. I guess the 2 stars are relative to what I would have given Rage or The Long Walk (one of my all time favorites). I read the whole collection consecutively and honestly for a long time, I thought these were categorized as short stories. I don't think that's accurate, but I do think that ...more
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The first Stephen King book I read. (Of course it is one of the Bachman books) I liked it so much I went on a four year Stephen King reading spree!
The story of Billy, who runs over an old gypsy lady, whose even older gypsy father puts a curse on him. A curse is also placed on everyone involved in the trial of the old gypsy lady's death. The book won't frighten you, but you will be very uncomfortable for several nights.
The story of Billy, who runs over an old gypsy lady, whose even older gypsy father puts a curse on him. A curse is also placed on everyone involved in the trial of the old gypsy lady's death. The book won't frighten you, but you will be very uncomfortable for several nights.
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Read in June, 2000
I love King and this was the first book of his that I read. If anything Thinner, like most all of King's novels, is an easy read: you can either read it all at once or read it over a long period of time and never loose track of where you left off. As is such, I always turn to King's work, especially during the summer, when I want something fun to read that doesn't require a lot of effort out of me.
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Read in January, 1997
Interesting story about a large man cursed by gypsies (is that politically correct these days?) after accidentally killing one of their own in a car incident. The curse? He begins to lose weight...at first a blessing, but then a nightmare as it doesn't show signs of slowing. Is there anyway to reverse the curse???
Good book, with a good movie version as well. Book seems more complete though.
Good book, with a good movie version as well. Book seems more complete though.
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First king novel i ever read and the getting thin part was fun but i especially liked when Gino blows everybody away. That was the moment i knew i would read another King book for sure. In College my friend James took a girl to see the movie version of this and it was so bad that he couldn't even bring himself to make out with the girl. He later saw The Craft with this same girl. Poor guy.
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Totally bad-ass, basically the perfect book. A fat-ass lawyer accidentally kills an old gypsy's daughter with his car while getting head from his wife. In his defense, the girl was jay-walking, but nevertheless, the vengeful man puts a curse on him, and he begins losing weight and more weight, and first he's like, "Cool," then he's all, "Oh, fuck." And then it gets really good.
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Read in January, 1991
The beginning seems to be what I remember the most about his book. I remember at first when he was losing weight I thought well that can't be the worst curse in the world. But then it became stressful even stressful to read. I like a book that can evoke this type of emotion from me it makes it exciting that I got through it, kind of like a little adrenaline rush.
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recommends it for:
horror fans, King fans
Originally published under King's pseudonym, "Richard Bachman." "Thinner" is a really good, spooky piece, asking the question: just how scary would it be if you started losing weight and then couldn't stop? No matter how much fatty food you eat, no matter how much you stuff your face, you keep wasting away?
It'd be pretty damn scary, when you think about it.
It'd be pretty damn scary, when you think about it.
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Read in January, 1997
I'm a little biased here, since I've always been very thin. Still, King does a very nice job with the pacing in this book, showing how the weight gain goes from intially being a positive, to gradually becoming severe enough to completely separate the main character from society. This is also yet another very good King book to have a lousy movie based after it.
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I was visiting a friend and picked this book up thinking it was a diet book. Silly me did not have a clue who Stephen King was. By the time I realized it was a novel, it was too late; I was glued to the story. This book is kind of unusal for King's style as it is not all about horror and is more about the mysical side. I enjoyed this book very much
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Read in September, 2007
Well-written, better than most Stephen King, but not as scary. I was a bit surprised by the ending, but not enough to say it felt tacked on or contrived. I'd recommend it to anyone who is already a King fan, or looking to read something of his that is less nightmare inducing than, say, Pet Sematary or 'Salem's Lot.
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As a dude with a six pack, I just can't feel bad for a guy who looses weight. Got 3/4th through, gave up, and then years later caught the tail end of the movie on USA. Just as I suspected, it sucked, too. I don't mean to betray my own pedestrian nature, but c'mon, King really phoned this one in.
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Read in September, 2007
Just a tad too longwinded in the final third, otherwise perfect entertainment. As usual, King has a good idea and follows it through to the bitter end. I didn't know whether I liked or hated the increasingly skeletal protagonist, but I surely wanted to find out what happened to him.
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recommends it for:
Bachman fans
The most horror-like of the early Bachman books, this one is about a glutton who accidentally kills a Gypsy and has a curse put on him. He then starts to lose weight...too much weight.
Pretty good, short book. Give it a shot. I didn't see the movie, but I heard it was pretty awful.
Pretty good, short book. Give it a shot. I didn't see the movie, but I heard it was pretty awful.
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Read in October, 2007
The book was pretty good overall. I did want to know what happened as I turned each page but once I reached a certain part of the book I knew what the outcome would be. I learned that you should be careful what you ask for and play fair in life because KARMA is a killer!!
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Read in January, 1988
recommends it for:
anyone who likes stephen king
This is one of my favorite Stephen King's books. I read many of his books, but this one is the best. Be careful not to mess with the Gypsies. While traveling in Prague, I told some of the Czechs about this book. There is a lot of discrimantion against Gypsies in Europe.
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