Misery

by Stephen King.

Two weeks after a near-fatal car crash, author Paul Sheldon regains consciousness in a stranger’s guest room, his legs shattered and useless. As the intense pain ebbs and flows, rare moments of lucidity lead to the chilling realization that his rescuer is also his jailer. Annie Wilkes might be Paul’s ‘number one fan’, but she is incensed that he has killed the heroine Misery Chastain in his latest novel. Fate has given Annie a chance to bring her favorite character back to life, and Paul won’t be leaving Annie’s remote farmstead alive until he complies. Misery sees Stephen King at the height of his writing powers in a novel that explores the psyche of an author suffering extreme torment. Edward Kinsella illustrated the best-selling Folio edition of The Shining and he again immerses himself in King’s narrative to create a terrifying and compelling set of illustrations, as well as a binding design that defines the novel: the antique Royal typewriter that is both Paul Sheldon’s entrapment and his only hope of liberty.

Bound in blocked metallic cloth
Set in Maxime with Typeka
360 pages
Black & white illustrated title-page spread and 8 colour illustrations
Printed endpapers
Plain slipcase
10″ x 6¾″

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller

360 pages, Hardcover

First published June 8, 1987

About the author

This is a temporary profile for Stephen King

Reviews

[Jessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Qué ansiedad!

[꧁ ꕥ James ꕥ ꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Misery is a psychological horror thriller with a focused narrative on two characters. Romance novelist Paul Sheldon, and his deranged "number one fan" Annie Wilkes.
Following a car crash in which Paul is injured, former nurse Annie brings him to her home and treats his injuries. Paul realises he is actually being held captive, and Annie wants him to write one last story featuring her favourite character- Misery Chastain.

Annie has quickly become one of my favourite literary villains, with her nonchalant explanations for her wicked behaviour. Chilling!
Incredibly well written, fast paced (for a King novel lol), and genuinely eerie and creepy. Will definitely be watching the movie next!

Fun reading!

[Celine | stuffcelinereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how to rate this book just yet

edit : 3.75★ King is a fucked up genius.

[Stephen Corbett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another King reread and one of his finest.
An absolute corker of a tale.
If you have only seen the movie then please do read the book, Annie is much more evil in the novel.
Having read this I will never say "I am your number 1 fan" to an author.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pero que jonina historia!!! Y sin duda Annie una diosa.
Lástima por la historia de Misery que no logró engancharme.

[dellmorte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never seen the movie but I definitely will. I'm very curious which of the two I like better.

Of course there are some boring moments and you ask yourself where is it going?, but every time you are positively surprised and there are a lot of W * F! moments.

The ending is also very exciting, and every time you think you know how it ends it....you don't until you do.

And of course... I loved the gore! xD

[Yves Ducheyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never read a Stephen King novel. Like ever... Have not even seen a movie of his books. Ok I saw the Green Mile and that's about it. Something in my mind had already judged him, perhaps it was his strong fanbase that scared me off or rather intimidated me? So I got into reading again after YEARS of not reading a single page for fun. I kept hearing that Misery is a good starter to get a taste of his style of writing.

I went all in, got myself a nice looking edition and strapped myself in for the ride (was nervous to start).

And OH... MY... GOD... now I get it. I get why he is declared as one of the greatest writers out there. It's his way of making you feel how the atmosphere feels like, or how the main character feels like.

A good example of this is the very beginning of the book. As I started reading I felt like I missed something? I was confused, could not really orient myself in the story. I felt uneasy. I felt what I was supposed to feel on a psychological level, what Paul Sheldon must've felt like physically.

There are lots of examples like this, and it shows that Stephen King is a master story teller on multiple levels. I even slowed down my reading, to really feel dreaded of another encounter with Annie. The way he ties in essential tiny details that quickly and clearly portray the scene or the mindset of the characters is expertly done.

I cannot say enough good things about Misery, the writing is masterfully done, the characters are interesting, ... The ending is not really a full blown shocker, but this story doesn't really need that I guess? It's a good purposeful ending, I'll leave it at that.

IF, for any reason, you are doubting to read a King novel (any King novel)... i can vouch for this one.
Enjoy.

[Fatima Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misery ⭐⭐⭐.5
Idioma: Español
Inicio: 16. junio. 2021
Fin: 26. junio. 2021

Frase: Era el huésped de Annie Wilkes. Barbacoas, carritos de supermercado, quizá mañana un parquímetro o una cabeza nuclear. Cuando se trata de la 'Casa de la Risa', las carcajadas no paraban.

Creo que tenía expectativas muy altas de este libro porque lo veía recomendado tanto para empezar a leer como para leer a Stephen King e iniciar con este género, además de las buenas críticas que le dan. Pensaba darle solo 3 estrellas, pero la segunda mitad del libro es muy buena, en especial la última cuarta parte y solo por eso le doy media estrella más.
En mi opinión tiene una historia que se desarrolla un poco lenta y siento que podría haberse hecho más corto ese "relleno" y seguir siendo tan bueno o incluso mejor. Tal vez también pueda ser el hecho de que esperaba más de Stepehn King y aunque no me disgustó pero no es lo que esperaba.
Espero cambiar de opinión al darle oportunidad a otro de sus libros.

Puntos buenos, me soprendió mucho lo que se puede lograr con pocos personajes, me gustó las divisiones se hicieron en el libro para separar lo que iba ocurriendo aunque creí en algun momento nos iban a mostrar lo que estaba ocurriendo desde la perspectiva de Annie. Si ya viste la película, completamente lo recomiendo, es mucho mejor que la adaptación y creo que desde ese punto, es una muy buena opción para adentrarse al mundo de la lectura.

[Raul Melendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally got around to reading Misery. I loved it. Sadly, I had seen the movie before I read it, so I had predetermined images in my head. Which, in this particular case, wasn't a bad thing. James Caan and Kathy Bates were both excellent, so having them in my head as I read was fine. Normally, I don't like (in books ABOUT writers) how the main character "writes" a book within the book. So often the book within is just fluff and pointless. In this case, I enjoyed the writing within the writing.

While it is one of his shorter novels, I think it has to be difficult to keep the suspense and interest when you essentially have only two characters throughout. One of the things that Stephen King is a master of is creating characters that are everyday-believable, but to a very frightening extreme.

I had a great time reading THIS particular edition, as it is the first copy of a Folio Society book that I ever read. Amazing quality with excellent illustrations.

I highly recommend this book. In fact, I might even suggest that it be the first King book for readers looking for a first read in the Stephen King Library.

[Mark Seemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

You've got to hand it to Stephen King that he can spin a good yarn.

I never expected to become a Stephen King reader, having no particular interest in horror, but a couple of years ago I decided to read The Shining, mostly because it was out as a Folio Society edition, and I was quite impressed by it. Misery isn't quite as strong, but I was still quite entertained (if that's the right word for a book as gruesome as this one).

Like with The Shining, it took me a little time to get into it. Af first, it seemed to me that a story with two characters in the same house, the protagonist lame, even, would be too passive to be gripping, but not so.

I did find the excerpts of Misery's Return, the story within the story, tedious and irrelevant, but at the moment, that's my only major complaint.

[Patrick Al-de Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misery was never high on my list of books to read because i had seen the film and it wasn't monster horror i had come to expect from Stephen King. However, when I saw this edition by the Folio Society it moved up the list rapidly.

Although i knew the broad outline of the story, i was absolutely not prepared for the way it grabbed me. It starts off with Paul waking up in Annie's house and it didn't let up until the end.

SK has quite a distinct way of telling a story, there's some tricks he always uses for instance. Like the way most of his characters have a saying or expression that keeps returning and although Misery definitely has these little SK signatures, it read unlike any of his other books. Let's say SK wasn't telling the story, the main character was. This is for sure one of his best of his best books.

[JaciLee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes!! They are some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever read. The majority of the novel takes place with just these two in a single room, with not that much actually happening, but it’s riveting.
I’m not sure if this is true, but I’ve heard Paul Sheldon is supposed to be Steven King, and that made his internal monologue SO interesting.
I’m not a huge fan of horror, only because I’m a scaredy-cat, and this was much more of a thriller than a horror, so that was great! Absolutely recommend!

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I remember it upon rereading it, and wonderfully typeset in the Folio edition with many sections of broken typewriter manuscript and penciled corrections reproduced. The metanarrative and inside baseball on writing escaped me when I read it in my teens.
Excellent illustrations.

[Graeme Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The greatest novel of all time.

[giu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing.

[Rachael Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost too gory for me at times but gripping, terrifying, and visceral.

[Adam Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most vivid, intense suspense filled novels I've ever read, a true classic

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

the final illustration of annie is going to haunt me forever.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

En efecto, una miseria.

[Robby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most realistic of King‘s stories I have read so far. It was good, but compared to his other more creative works not more than that.