Misery

by Stephen King

Book Overview

Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader--she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house. Now Annie wants Paul to write his greatest work--just for her. She has a lot of ways to spur him on. One is a needle. Another is an ax. And if they don't work,...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451169522
• ISBN13: 9780451169525
• Release Date: June 1988
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

came exactly as i ordered

very happy with this book would order again.

Copy received did not match the picture shown!

I got this thinking the “acceptable” was worth the price. What I received was a book that looked nothing like the picture. I wouldn’t even call it “acceptable” - it was more like poor condition. The cover is scratched up and bent up so bad it looks like it should be in the trash. And I never want to put the book in the trash.

Misery, in the best way possible

I finally got around to getting the book because Misery is my favorite movie that is beat off a Stephen King novel. His writing will always make me cringe just a little but that not the wrost thing. Misery made me uncomfortable in the best way possible. The indept feelings, deep details, and select words make getting into the story pretty easy. My paper back is in good condition just as I ordered, wish it wasnt so tiny tho.

Stephen King Fan

Received a very nice copy of this book, almost looks brand new. Can’t wait to read it.

Amazing!

This book was amazing full of twist and turns I was obsessed!!

very good read with some flaws

starting with the positives, this book is extremely descriptive and detailed - leaving no blank spaces and easy to follow. king gave a descriptive insight to how exactly the main character was feeling and every internal conflict he was having which i loved; rarely anything was up for interpretation or imagination. it also gave an accurate representation of mental illness and never romanticized or idolized it for one moment. now for the negative (or what might seen negative for some people). i believed the book was very slow, and although i have the patience for that, some may not. but personally, i believe it made the action scenes even more special. overall, i loved it.

My first Stephen King novel

Loved this book, I’ve only see the movie so reading the book was amazing. I love being able to read the main characters thoughts and feelings as he navigated how to stay alive and not get on the bad side of his kidnapper. If you’ve only seen the movie you MUST read the book because there is so many differences between the two it’s insane. Loved the book more than the movie.

Love, love, love.

I love Stephen King's writing, and this story was the epitome of his style. A simple idea was taken and churned out to be horrifying and wonderful at the same time. I started in the morning and, with no original intention, finished the whole book in one day. I actually tweeted at Stephen King when i finished thanking him, then felt weird about it considering what the book is about.

Tense and Emotional Story

I read this book and I liked it. It inspired me to read more of Stephen King`s books. The scene that stood out for me the most was when Annie hobbled Paul. It was so attentive to detail that it felt like I was looking at a picture inside of the book. This scene showed just how deep Annie`s paranoia went. Paul hadn`t done half the things she was accusing him of and his legs were healing, but what she did to him pushed him back to the beginning of his torture. You should read this book because it is so good that once you pick it up you can`t put it down. ~submitted by my student Jake

A must for writers

Paul Sheldon finishes a book he's proud of, unlike the bestselling Misery series he's been churning out. On his way home, he crashes and is "saved" by his number one fan. Annie Wilkes turnes out to be horrifyingly insane, torturous, homicidal and more than a bit suicidal. The book centers on two characters isolated in the Colorado high country. Still the book is deep and gripping. Sheldon struggles mightily to get free and it seems the novel is a bit autobiographical as King reveals the character's ideas about popular fiction and its merits. A must for writers. It hits home hard and has an engaging, intimate perspective that demands you to connect with Paul Sheldon's plight. CJ West Author, Taking Stock

So vivid!

It's common knowledge Stephen King can take a simple idea and turn it into a 500,000 word marathon; it's one of the reasons MISERY is one of my favorite King novels, because--for a change--King gets into the meat and potatoes of his story from the first page (and he doesn't let up until the last). Consequently, the novel is one of his shorter works. The beauty of this book is not so much the helplessness and horror of being captive to Annie Wilkes as it is the inner workings of Paul Sheldon's brain. Bestselling author of the Misery Chastain series (a character he has come to loathe), Paul talks to himself throughout his ordeal in Annie's Rocky Mountain hellhole. This self-dialoge is riveting, entertaining, and often downright funny. In fact, the humorous undertow throughout the book makes Annie's "behaviour" even more alarming and frightful. Nothing like copping a chuckle while Annie is wielding an axe or being destructive on a riding lawnmower; yet King pulls it off, page after page. I'm an allegorical kind of guy, and I can't help but think MISERY is a novel about Stephen King himself and the hell he was putting himself through during his substance abuse days. Writing, euphoria, pain, addiction, terror: all were in vogue for both Paul Sheldon and Stephen King in the 1980s. MISERY is King at his dysfunctional best. --D. Mikels, Author, THE RECKONING

Misery will haunt your days and nights...

I have never read anything written by Stephen King as I don't particularly like that genre. But a friend insisted that I read Misery, and I was astounded by King's talents. I was hooked from the very first page, and Misery is a book that will haunt yours days and nights long after you've finished. Paul Sheldon is a popular writer celebrating the completion of a new book, when his car goes off a mountain road in a snowstorm. He finds himself with shattered legs, being held captive by a former nurse, Annie Wilkes. Ironically, Wilkes just happens to be his number one fan. While she's nursing him back from near death, Wilkes reads his latest book, where he kills off his popular character, Misery Chastain (a sappy, high-drama character whom Sheldon has come to loathe). She decides that Sheldon will write a new novel (just for her), in which he brings Misery back from the dead. And believe me-Wilkes has her methods to keep Sheldon writing! Sheldon soon discovers that he's like Scheherazade, and the best way to stay alive is to keep the stories coming. Wilkes is a true psychopath, and the mind games that Sheldon plays will have you riveted. His ultimate goal is to escape, but Wilkes is one shrewd character, and his getting out alive is slim at best. Misery succeeds on so many different levels. The characters are so very well developed. In trying to figure out how to deal with Hurricane Annie, Paul also learns much about himself while he is trying to survive. Misery is filled with lots of symbolism-especially in the writing of his new book, Misery Returns. King also gives us a good look at the art of writing. He talks about the difference between a hack, a popular writer and a literary writer. While King is certainly a popular writer who is sometimes accused of being a hack, Misery reads more like a work of literature. We see what sometimes motivates a writer to write, and we can only imagine the rabid, crazed fans that any popular figure must contend with. It's also interesting to see how readers take ownership of fictional characters, and how distraught they can become over their demise. Also, as gruesome as much of this book is, Sheldon still can see much humor and irony in his situation which lightens the load just a bit. I never expected to enjoy Misery (or any Stephen King for that matter) as much as I did. It certainly won't be my last.

Stephen King's MISERY---One of his Best!

MISERY is one of those novels that made me want to hug myself in enjoyment. With its cleverly ingenious humor that somehow mixes so well with its occasionally gruesome violence, this is a novel that made me wish I had written myself! I bought and read this book 12 years ago, and have recently unearthed it from a box that had been stored in my garage since I moved into my new home three years ago. This brought back some great memories, and I'd like to share them with you.Narrated in first-person by Paul Sheldon, a famous writer of cheesy romance novels (starring a heroine named Misery Chastain) who crashes his car in the middle of the snowiest winter in the middle of Colorado and is rescued by local nurse Annie Wilkes, who happens to be, as she immediately lets him know as soon as he comes to, his "Number One Fan." She also happens to be, as he soon finds out, obsessed and dangerously crazy. Her care of him soon becomes a prison, one from which he knows he must escape, someway and somehow. It will prove to be difficult, as he is bedridden with two badly broken legs. When crazy Annie reads Paul's latest installment of the Misery series and finds out, to her horror, that he killed off her beloved heroine, all hell breaks loose. When she finds out that he did this to finally exit the romance-novel arena, and was working on a more street-savvy book starring a troubled teenage boy, she makes him start on a book entitled "Misery's Return." As distasteful as this is to him, he is not in a position to argue his way out of it, knowing that Annie holds all the cards and has him completely at her mercy. After all, it's hard to argue with a big, strong woman who carries an axe, and who, by the way, saved your life.MISERY is a taut thriller that understands its two main characters, the introverted and reserved Paul Sheldon and yes, even Annie Wilkes in all her irrationality. King loves her even as he simultaneously (and hilariously) makes fun of her quirky speech, which he dubs "the Annie Wilkes Lexicon." MISERY is a real page-turner (I read the entire 250-page book in one day) that is full of suspense and dark humor. I love it in all its ooginess, and if you haven't read it yet, then you'd just better do it now, you dirty bird!MOST RECOMMENDED; AGES 17 & UP