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Misery

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 151,454 ratings · 2,504 reviews

After a car crash, writer Paul Sheldon is saved by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes. She brings him home, splints his mangled legs, and all he has to do in return is write a very special book, one all about her favourite character. Because if he doesn`t, if he is bad, she will be cross - very cross.

Paperback, 369 pages

Published May 31st 2007 by Hodder (first published 1987)

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Aug 30, 2011 Bonnie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-books, horror

Update: I haven't been here for a while (writing reviews, that is) so I didn't realize this required a (view spoiler). Also, I haven't been receiving updates until recently, so my apologies for not doing this sooner. And ~ I have a feeling I haven't used the correct format, re: spoiler alert, but I hope it will serve as sufficient warning.

No doubt there are many Stephen King fans who loved this book, but personally I am not into reading about chopping off a foot, and the...more

15 likes · like · see review

Mar 02, 2013 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-novel, suspense, thriller, horror

I have checked, unchecked and checked again the Horror box for my book shelves on this one. I've always interpreted the term horror to refer to a genre of books where there is some kind of supernatural entity causing people to be, well, horrified. Like a creepy clown who comes out of the storm drains. Or a hotel that's possessed by evil spirits. Or a young girl who can move objects with the power of her mind.

In "Misery," the object of fear is a dumpy ex-nurse named Annie, living alone in the Ro...more I have checked, unchecked and checked again the Horror box for my book shelves on this one. I've always interpreted the term horror to refer to a genre of books where there is some kind of supernatural entity causing people to be, well, horrified. Like a creepy clown who comes out of the storm drains. Or a hotel that's possessed by evil spirits. Or a young girl who can move objects with the power of her mind.

In "Misery," the object of fear is a dumpy ex-nurse named Annie, living alone in the Rocky Mountains. She's mentally unbalanced, but she's not possessed by an evil spirit. She doesn't have kinetic powers. But she doesn't need any. She manages to terrorize Paul just fine without any supernatural help.

Annie starts off as an angel of mercy, rescuing best selling author Paul Sheldon when he's injured in a car accident on a lonely, snowy road. She's thrilled to have him under her roof, because she is the "Number One Fan" of his series of books about a character named Misery.

The only problem is he killed Misery off in the last book so he could work on a more serious, literary novel. Annie insists that Paul write another Misery book, and that this book have a plausible explanation of how she died and came back to life. With both legs broken, Paul is dependent of Annie for everything and struggles to appease her. He sets about writing a new Misery book on Annie's old manual typewriter.

I loved how the Misery story progresses. It's written in the same font as an old typewriter that's lost a few keys, with missing letters written in by hand.

Stung by bad reviews, and longing to be taken seriously as a writer, Paul finds himself writing for his harshest critic yet. Because Annie will torture and possibly kill him if she doesn't like what she reads.

I loved all the observations about writing, how the critics panned his writing, but Paul had the ability to write real page turners, the kind of book you just have to keep reading because you've got to know what happens next.

This is by far, my favorite Stephen King novel(less)

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Nov 12, 2007 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

'Misery' is a gruesome story of torture with blood, guts, and a psychopath. It's a well told tale, the characters are well developed and the fact that there are only two of them never gets boring. It's a real page turner, in fact I finished it tonight after getting off the subway on the platform before I walked home. But, this book is more than just a thriller, just like King is more than just a pulp writer.

I read an article by the ever optimistic and cheerful Harold Bloom in college about how d...more 'Misery' is a gruesome story of torture with blood, guts, and a psychopath. It's a well told tale, the characters are well developed and the fact that there are only two of them never gets boring. It's a real page turner, in fact I finished it tonight after getting off the subway on the platform before I walked home. But, this book is more than just a thriller, just like King is more than just a pulp writer.

I read an article by the ever optimistic and cheerful Harold Bloom in college about how dismayed he was that young people like Stephen King so much. All the literature crtics I've read hate King and it seems like it's just because people actually enjoy reading his work. Yeah, Bloom, I said 'work' just like I would about Tolstoy's 'work' because Stephen King as damned hard worker. Think of all the books he's churned out over the last few decades. I'd like to see Harold Bloom show enough imagination to write fiction instead of just criticizing it all the time.

I'm actually new to Stephen King's fiction. I've read a few of the essays and articles he's written and a really great graduation speech he gave at UMaine awhile ago in which he extolled the virtues of our mutual home state, but this is only my 3rd novel by him. I like this guy, and I know why too. It's not just because he makes me scream and I have a hard time putting his books down, it's because King loves writing. He has a real and self-aware relationship with what it means to be a writer. He knows he's not Tolstoy or Faulkner, he doesn't try to write that way. He knows how to tell a good god damned story and he has a passion for it. I appreciate his self awareness as a writer and the fact that he ackowledges how difficult the whole process is while not making us feel like he's somehow superior because he's figured out how to do it.

In 'Misery' it's almost like we get to watch King write this story. He doesn't just set us up for a crazy story and watch us discover things about his characters, it feels like he actually comes with us and makes the discoveries at the same time we do. That's what makes a good storyteller. And I don't give a damn if Bloom likes him or not. (less)

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Apr 29, 2013 Meli rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Muuuuuuuuuuuuuy buen libro, no podía soltarlo.
Hacía mucho que no sufría TANTO con una historia, soñé dos noches seguidas que intentaba rescatar a Paul.

RESEÑA COMPLETA

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Feb 02, 2012 Diletta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Esistono essenzialmente tre tipologie di libri: quelli buoni, quelli mediocri, e quelli che non si sfangano (da questi parte un'ulteriore diramazione, quelli che tireremmo contro il muro).
La prima tipologia ha il vantaggio di farsi riconoscere subito: sappiamo immediatamente quando abbiamo tra le mani un buon libro. Quando procediamo senza accorgercene, quando non dobbiamo contare le pagine che mancano per finire il capitolo, quando non ci soffermiamo con aria di profondo interesse su un simpat...more Esistono essenzialmente tre tipologie di libri: quelli buoni, quelli mediocri, e quelli che non si sfangano (da questi parte un'ulteriore diramazione, quelli che tireremmo contro il muro).
La prima tipologia ha il vantaggio di farsi riconoscere subito: sappiamo immediatamente quando abbiamo tra le mani un buon libro. Quando procediamo senza accorgercene, quando non dobbiamo contare le pagine che mancano per finire il capitolo, quando non ci soffermiamo con aria di profondo interesse su un simpatico insetto - è una mosca o un'ape?- sulla parete.
Quando il pomeriggio trascorre come fosse un'ora mentre tieni quelle pagine ad un palmo dal naso.

Quando questo avviene non è solo merito della trama, ma bensì dello scrittore. Di come ci offre la storia. E King è un maestro in questo, lo si evince dal primo capitolo, come se non bastasse la fama che lo precede come un grazioso spiritello.
Non è solo questione di stile, è la profonda percezione che nasce nel lettore che King sia questo libro. Dietro la grigia maschera di Paul Sheldon, il protagonista e non a caso uno scrittore, sembra quasi di intravedere le labbra di King stesso, i suoi occhi, le sue riflessioni su quel rapporto di amore-odio che è lo scrivere per lui, in cui si possono riconoscere tutti coloro che almeno una volta nella vita si sono cimentati con l'arte dello scrivere. Su questo punto è stato davvero illuminante, come se si fosse confessato di fronte a me: ho capito tante cose, anche e soprattutto al di là della trama.

La storia comincia nella coscienza nebulosa di Paul Sheldon, improvvisamente risvegliatosi con le gambe simpaticamente maciullate e sotto effetto di farmaci psicotropi nella stanzetta di quella che ama definirsi la sua "fan numero uno". Si ricorda di aver avuto un incidente, si ricorda l'albero, si ricorda il sangue, poi più niente. E' a questo punto che appare la graziosa figurina di Annie, la buona samaritana, una donnina non troppo rassicurante con un unico difetto, quello di impazzire ogni tanto.
Ahhh, i pazzi. Adorabili.
Il caso vuole che Paul Sheldon sia il suo scrittore preferito. Non è fantastico? Tutto meraviglioso se non fosse per il fatto che lui, proprio lui, ha fatto morire la sua eroina preferita, Misery, nell'ultimo libro della saga che porta il suo nome. Ecco, Annie ci rimane così male che decide non solo di torturarlo, ma anche di fargli riscrivere il libro. O meglio, di farla resuscitare.
Annie non ama essere contraddetta. E' una psicopatica con manie depressive, per di più. E non sono due fattori che vanno troppo d'accordo messi insieme.

Non so davvero che dire su questo libro, se non che mi ha tenuto col naso incollato per una settimana, a dispetto dell'influenza e degli esami da dare. E sicuramente meriterebbe un'analisi ben più approfondita della mia, ma Misery è uno di quei libri che non vuole essere analizzato, ma vissuto, assorbito, ingoiato (letteralmente) fino all'ultima pagina.(less)

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Jun 17, 2012 Felina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, star-5, audiobook, favorites, own-kindle, own-nook

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 11, 2012 Trudi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-want-to-marry, horror, made-into-movie, stephen-king, scary-as-hell, uber-graphic-extreme, classics-horror, survive-this, my-desert-island, loved-the-movie, epic-creep, rusa-reads, re-reads, 2012-reads, audiobook

I've been re-visiting some of my King All-star Team this year as audiobooks and am reminded yet again that Uncle Steve is The Man. No matter what asshats and embittered douchebags like "literary critic" Harold Bloom say, King is one of the greatest storytellers in any language of all time, full stop. Is everything he's written pure gold? Of course not. Given the sheer size of the man's canon, that's to be expected. But even when I think King has put up something less than stellar, I always feel...more

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Jun 20, 2010 Mary JL rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: any horror OR mystery fan

Recommended to Mary JL by: Fan of author

Shelves: mystery-horror

You may have seen the movie or you at least know the story. So, you think, why read it? Well, first the book differs somewhat from the move and goes into more depth. Since there are only really two major characers, Anne Wilkes and Paul Sheldon, her captive writer, King can delve into their characters at length--and he does.

I personally feel this is one of Stepehn King's strongest books. I particulary find it horrifying because it is a bit more possible that some of his books. I don't really beli...more

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Oct 01, 2007 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This has vaulted over almost every other Stephen King book I've read to my top spot, tied with Salems' Lot. I'll have to read Salems' Lot again to see if it really as as good as I remember. Misery is great, completely engrossing.
This book reminded me of something King said in "On Writing", about the writing process. He said to him sometimes, writing was like excavating a dinosaur skeleton. You find just a rib at first, that's like the initial idea. But the whole story is there, it's just buried...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Jordan Gregory rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Of course, I've seen the movie. Many, many times. Kathy Bates is uh-mazing, and always freaks my shit out in that movie.
The book is even freakier.

Misery is now the one and only Stephen King book I've read, and I didn't want to like it as much as I did. I always imagined King's writing to be simplistic, and even terse; such writing would make for great screenplays (and great movies (Kathy Bates!)), but not necessarily high art. I mean, how can an author THAT major actually be worth reading? #sn...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Victor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Loved every page of this one!

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 09, 2008 Alice Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, favorites

My first time ever picking up Stephen King, it was this book. And ever since then, my entire reading list was everything he's ever written, and I hailed Stephen King as my favorite author for years. Of course by now, having read most of his works, I wouldn't still say he's "the best writer ever". He's definitely produced some trash along with a few treasures. Misery is, without a question, one of the treasures.

Before Misery I had no idea that it was possible to sit at the edge of my seat, litera...more

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May 04, 2007 Pwntalive rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book in Middle School. My mother had gone into a period of getting every king book as it came out. This was one of the 1st BIG novels i ever got into. Wow, what a mind warp for a 7th grader. I remember the feeling of dirty associated with this book. What caused this novel to be connected with such a feeling of profound filthiness? The book opens with the breath of life being breafed into the lungs of Mr. King by a fat woman what just binged on junk food. Imagine being awoken from dea...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Jaz.parks rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: review-reseña, books-i-own, comprado

Mi Opinión en:~Heart Shaped Box~

En mi opinión sobre la película The Collector dije que "Personalmente, me gusta ver películas que pertenecen al género Torture Porn, por que me gusta ver lo lejos que llega el hombre para vivir. Los límites del cuerpo humano, lo que puede o no aguantar. Lo que un hombre está dispuesto a hacer por vivir, o por otros.". En Misery yo puede ver, leer e imaginarme la sangre saliendo a chorros cuando Annie... Bueno, por que eso es lo que la Fan #1 de Paul Sheldon hace,...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Jane Stewart rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-suspense-thriller

The subject matter is my problem. Throughout the book I desperately wanted it to be over. I didn’t want to think about it, and I still don’t.

I’m suffering through this. It’s torture. Throughout the book Paul is a victim. When he does something smart, she finds out and punishes him (like cutting off body parts). Too many atrocious acts. Too much helplessness. Paul learns that she killed many people and got away with it. She tells Paul of her plans to kill others and how she will get away with tha...more The subject matter is my problem. Throughout the book I desperately wanted it to be over. I didn’t want to think about it, and I still don’t.

I’m suffering through this. It’s torture. Throughout the book Paul is a victim. When he does something smart, she finds out and punishes him (like cutting off body parts). Too many atrocious acts. Too much helplessness. Paul learns that she killed many people and got away with it. She tells Paul of her plans to kill others and how she will get away with that. He believes her. This adds to Paul’s feeling of helplessness. She is strong, cunning, and crazy.

I prefer stories where the protagonist takes action to influence his future. I want entertainment or some kind of feel good. Technically there was a good ending for the good guy, but it did not feel good. I was depressed.

It’s told in third person, but only Paul’s point of view, never Annie’s.

THE POSITIVES:
I have a favorite part (believe it or not) due to the author’s clever wording. Annie leaves Paul locked in a room for 51 hours with no food, water, or pain medication. Paul’s thoughts: “ Around 4 o’clock of the second day “Pretty Thirsty” made it’s move” (a few thoughts later) “thinking unconsciousness would come and relieve him, but unconsciousness declined. Instead hour thirty came and hour forty. Now “King of Pain” and “Pretty Thirsty” merged into one single horse. “I Got the Hungries” had been left in the dust long since, and he began to feel like nothing more than a slice of living tissue on a microscope slide or a worm on a hook, something anyway, twisting endlessly and waiting only to die.”

Annie forces Paul to write a romance novel “Misery’s Return” while he is captive. The main reason Annie keeps Paul alive is to see what will happen in the novel. The heroine Misery died in the previous published book. Annie forces Paul to come up with a believable way to have her alive in this book. I liked what he came up with. A handful of other scenes from “Misery’s Return” are shown. They were not interesting to me and could have been shortened. But I liked seeing the author’s thought process as he came up with ideas to put into the novel. He talked about “the guys in the sweatshop” (giving him ideas) and seeing a hole in the paper (to begin writing).

The narrator Lindsay Crouse was good.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook reading time: 12 hrs and 11 mins. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words.. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day mostly Colorado. Book copyright: 1987. Genre: horror suspense thriller. Ending: good but not good enough for the good guy, bad for the bad guy.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Stephen King books, see my 5 star review of Carrie.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
(less)

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Mar 25, 2009 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I believe this is one of King's best-written stories I've read, and it's my least favorite kind of horror: the psychotic killer. But King really brought me into this world and made me a co-participant in the nightmare that one frustrated writer is experiencing. It has its in your face, gory moments, but it's very character driven in that the main protagonist spends quite a while alone initially. He has to come to terms with his situation and deal with the intense pain he is in, as well as his fe...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Anne Nikoline rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of King's creations

Recommended to Anne Nikoline by: the local library

Shelves: horror-fiction, read-in-2011, adult-ilterature, science-or-psychology

I can't really decided wether to give this novel stars. So instead I'll try to put my rathing into words and let you decided how many stared novel in continuation of my arguments.

Misery by Stephen King is a different horror novel than the author's other horror novels, because it is not scary in the same way, however, it is scary when it comes to the psychological aspects of the story, and I believe many people who are a devoted fan of something might be able to relate to Annie, the scoundrel of...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Rola rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

بخصوص التقييم
أعطى للرواية الأصلية لستيفن كينج خمسة نجوم
وللمترجم أربعة نجوم
ولدار النشر فيما يختص بالطباعة ثلاث نجوم فقط
و سوف أفرد تفصيليا أسباب تقييمى هذا إن شاء الله

-----------------

تحديث

أما عن ستينف كينج فحدث و لا حرج
روائى بارع هو و استطاع ان يحبس أنفاسي حقا ... بل و يشعرنى بجميع آلام بول النفسية و الجسدية فى كل مرحلة عاشها خلال الرواية
الرواية ممتعة إلى أقصى حد
و كما قلت فى أثناء تقييمى خلال القراءة
أنا أعشق الفيلم حقا و كاثى بيتس فى دور آنى كانت أكثر من رائعة
مخيفة إلى أبعد حد و صادقة
و ما توقع...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Kit★ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, keep-forever

This one was picked as the July Book of the Month in the Stephen King Fans Group, so I went ahead and gave it a re-read. I wasn't planning on it, as I've got a buddy-read of a different book in another group coming up in a few days, but going through the discussion thread made me realize I'd forgotten a lot about this book. When I read it before I was still in my teens, and I liked it but it wasn't a favorite. I think I liked it better this time around, was more able to feel for Paul this time a...more This one was picked as the July Book of the Month in the Stephen King Fans Group, so I went ahead and gave it a re-read. I wasn't planning on it, as I've got a buddy-read of a different book in another group coming up in a few days, but going through the discussion thread made me realize I'd forgotten a lot about this book. When I read it before I was still in my teens, and I liked it but it wasn't a favorite. I think I liked it better this time around, was more able to feel for Paul this time around. I liked him right away, he was a good character, and all I wanted was for him to escape. Now, of course as I've read this before and seen the movie a couple of times too, I knew it wasn't going to happen easily. I kinda liked the slow and yet speedy pace of it, it made me feel the panic, the feeling of being caged. I couldn't put it down, read it pretty fast. I just couldn't believe the craziness of Annie, what made her like that? Was she just born bad or did bad things happen to her in her childhood to make her like that? I was fascinated by her in a way, and repulsed too. Especially once Paul found and read her sick little scrapbook. The large number of people she quietly killed is amazing, to get away with that is ridiculous. But the babies, the poor little helpless babies, that's beyond the pale, that alone made me want Paul to ruin her. The way she 'cared' for Paul, merely splinting his legs when surgery to repair them would probably have been the best way to go, and for that he would've needed a doctor, a hospital. I can't even imagine how bad that would hurt. And that's not even going into her punishments of him! *Shudder! The hobbling 'surgery' she gave him was especially gruesome, if it were me instead of Paul, I would've died right then and there just seeing it happen to myself... But Paul, he ended up being stronger in his will to live than I ever would've been, and for that he makes it away with his life. Now the bits of Misery's story were cool, I wouldn't mind reading the Misery books myself, if only they were real. Or his other manuscript, the Fast Cars one that she made him burn, his only copy of his work in the whole wide world, a work that had taken him long and hard to finish, and just poof! Gone up in smoke, so much for that story. I'm not even a writer and I could feel his pain something fierce when that happened. I liked how his will to live centered on his writing, because he had to see how the story would turn out, and that it was one of his best stories ever despite the circumstances it was written in. I liked how this book kept me reading on even when I knew I should stop and go to bed, that tension was well-written, and although I didn't get to know Annie's inner thoughts, I still think she was a terrible villain, and I mean that in a good way. The ending was good, showing how Paul still had his freak-out post-traumatic moments, imaging her popping up everywhere to kill him, but I'm glad she's dead! A good, fast, creepy book, and it's one of his classics for a good reason. (less)

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Feb 07, 2011 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, favourites

This book was INSANE! It was my first real introduction to King (besides the Gunslinger books, which are in a whole other category) and I have to say I absolutely loved it! I couldn't put it down. I have always loved the movie, but it's nothing compared to this. The character development was excellent, the pacing was fantastic, and it was so intense. THIS is how you write a suspense novel, Dean Koontz!

In particular, I loved the character of Annie and how she developed over the course of the book...more

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Jan 14, 2008 Mr. Shits rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first novel I can remember ever reading. I never did see the movie, I think it was rated PG-13 or something and I couldn't go. Anyway I can't adequately describe my state of mind when I read this so here's someone else's review that sums up my thoughts and mirrors my experience almost exactly:

Pwntalive-
I read this book in Middle School. My mother had gone into a period of getting every king book as it came out. This was one of the 1st BIG novels i ever got into. Wow, what a mind warp for a 7...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 15, 2008 Elizabeth Wallace rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

This is one of the first books I can remember actually having to do the equivalent of closing-your-eyes-during-the-scary-bit-of-a-movie: I got to one particularly gruesome bit in the book and closed my eyes, turned the page, and started reading again. And I NEVER skip parts of books, but wow. And gah.

Wonderful book all the same though, excellent stuff. But not to be read at night, alone. (And the problem is, if you start reading it in the daytime, you're not going to be able to stop reading it,...more

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Sep 21, 2008 Emilia P rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: real-books

Grudgingly, I give this four.
Let's just say that, save for her serial-murdering side, I identify pretty strongly with the fully envisioned villain of this story, the great Bee-Goddess, the one and only Annie Wilkes. So much so that I felt, for maybe the first half of the book, that Paul and King were being a little hard on her.
Uhhhhh....well... that is all to say, I think the monster-woman archetype is amazing and I was glad to get so much of one in such a claustrophobic atmosphere. The whole "t...more

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Sep 19, 2010 wally rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: king

another story about a writer, paul sheldon, if i recall his name correctly. i think i saw the movie before i read this one and both were good. i had a typewriter that gave up the ghost of the "i" key, once upon a time. use it or lose it i guess. annie wants paul to use it her way. she has a special place, a laughing place...a neato idea expressed in more than one story...audrey wilkes in regulators, scott landon in lisey's story...that kid in desperations, that tree house i spose...

i like the co...more

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May 03, 2010 chucklesthescot rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller, fiction

Paul Sheldon became famous writing books about a woman called Misery but now he wants to put her behind him and write new things.When he finishes his new book,he has a serious car crash in an isolated spot and is rescued by Annie,a fanatical reader.She is not very happy when she finds out what he has done to Misery and she intends to keep him prisoner forever and make him write what she wants.
The book was ok but I prefer the film.I wasn't really interested in reading page after page of Misery's...more

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Oct 18, 2008 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Stephen King Fans, horror fans

Recommended to Melissa by: Required Reading for Fiction Class in College

Shelves: with-reviews, adult-fiction

I had to read this for a course I took in college: Contemporary American Fiction. For me this book was a misery to read. It really wasn't my thing. Stephen King is an excellent author and is obviously very talented, but this isn't the type of book I usually read. It was out of my comfort zone and it wouldn't have been a title I would have read if I had a choice.

What I learned from this book? I learned that while I didn't enjoy the book myself, that Stephen King is an excellent author and I coul...more

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Nov 05, 2008 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Another excellent novel by King. Oh how I miss him!
Intense, thrilling, gripping!
I especially liked the novel within a novel aspect of Misery. For some reason I always like that. Maybe because I'm getting two for the price of one. The romance novel of Misery Chastain was surprisingly good. Heretofore, SK was always my horror-guy. Never expected a romance novel from him. And what a unique way to do it.
Annie scared the hell out of me. Insanity and unpredicability is a terrifying combination. And i...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stephen-king

Ouch, this book will make you wince with pain.

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 07, 2009 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'd never read "Misery" before, and one a whim one night I picked it up from the bookshelf (this is why we have used book sales, folks, always have books to fall back on!) and I was glad I did.

Most of us are familiar with the story by now - Best-selling author Paul Sheldon wrecks his car in Colorado, only to be "rescued" by his Number One Fan, Annie Wilkes. But Annie is more like Number One Psycho, the one fan that every famous hopes they never meet, and begins to torture Paul and forces him to...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 22, 2009 Pgao rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finishing this book is a relief for me. It is an awesome book, dark and smothery. Descriptions about Annie, the antagonist, were scary. Annie was supposed to be a “psycho”, but Stephen king made her a “devil”. Paul Sheldon, the protagonist, was a pet for Annie. Since the story was so interesting and made me had a hard time to suppress myself turn to the last page, spoilers would ruin the book. Inner monologues took place through out the book, but sadly, all of them were Paul’s. Annie’s thoughts...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
What would you do if you were paralyzed, and stuck in somebody's house?	14	109	Apr 29, 2013 09:26am
Book vs. Movie: Misery	58	278	Apr 07, 2013 02:25pm
Tropers: Book Club: April 2013	1	8	Apr 01, 2013 03:33pm
Stephen King Fans: Misery	124	302	Jan 13, 2013 11:41pm
Month of October	17	68	Oct 18, 2012 08:07pm
Annie Wilkes	11	103	Oct 10, 2012 05:23pm

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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Trivia About Misery

41 trivia questions
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Quotes from Misery

“I am your number one fan.” — 34 people liked it

“I am in trouble here. This woman is not right.” — 17 people liked it

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