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Misery
Misery
Author: Stephen King
After an automobile accident, novelist Paul Sheldon meets his biggest fan. Annie Wilkes is his nurse -- and captor. Now, she 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, she can get really nasty...
ISBN-13: 9780670813643
ISBN-10: 0670813648
Publication Date: 6/8/1987
Pages: 320
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 235

4.1 stars, based on 235 ratings
Publisher: Viking Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Misery on
Helpful Score: 4
Not sure why other members claim this isn't hardcover, it certainly is. Perhaps the UPC codes were mixed up somehow, the book that arrived was hardcover.

On another note, this is an excellent book. My grandfather was a huge fan and collector of Stephen King books- now at the ripe age of twenty-one I am beginning to enjoy his work (both movies and books) more and more. I will admit that the books I have read have been lengthy and somewhat hard to get through, but very well worth it. A very talented man who is a huge inspiration to me. Some day I hope to write books even half as well as Mr. King does. I can't wait to collect everything I possibly can by this genius. I HIGHLY recommend this as a starter book if you are new to Stephen King, it is one of my favorites.
reviewed Misery on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
As always Stephen King manages to frighten us. This is my chosen method of horror, more psychological than gore. What a mind he has.
scrapbooklady avatar reviewed Misery on + 472 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
The monster in "Misery" is human, not supernatural. A crazed fan, obsessed with her favorite author, decides to keep him all to herself.

This story involves imprisonment, physical and psychological abuse, shackles and weapons. This is not a nice lady. It gives you insight into what can happen to famous people when they are stalked by an obsessed fan.
SusanKay avatar reviewed Misery on
Helpful Score: 3
As posted by another member, this is not a hardcover book, but a large paperback. Excellent example of Stephen King's genius! If you have seen the movie, you should read the book - it's much better.
Kibi avatar reviewed Misery on + 582 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Love's Company, January 24, 2006
Reviewer: sandalista

I divorced Mr. King in 1990 or 1991. About 100 pages into his doorstop du jour, The Dark Half, I concluded that his critics are right: life's too short and many King novels ('salami,' he called them) are much too long. Breaking up was hard to do because his short & almost flawless novel Misery had seduced me.

Misery is Scheherazade with an eponymous hog and a butane torch. Misery is a number-one fan club and the Annie Wilkes Travelers' Aide Society. Misery, above all, is Annie Wilkes with the butane torch and an axe.

It was said, before Misery, that the most horrifying element of King's horror novels was the portrait of Stephen King on the dust jackets of the novels. Annie Wilkes changed that. Neither a killer Plymouth nor a Tommyknocking telekinetic prom queen, Nurse Wilkes is ultimate horror: she's someone like someone we might know. Although she wears a vampire cross in the ridiculous Kathy Bates movie, King's Annie Wilkes is human and utterly helpful, joined in mysterious union with someone like someone we might become, someone almost utterly helpless. Helplessness, not vampires or Micmac monsters or killer cars, is our deepest secret fear. Although he doesn't understand Colorado winters, Stephen King understands the horror of helplessness, a heart of darkness darker than death.

Our divorce is final, but I still go back sometimes to the creative destruction of Mr. King's Blowtorch Annie or to the Apt Pupil, just to remember what might have been, two decades ago, before Salami was King.
Read All 71 Book Reviews of "Misery"

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mom2jwn avatar reviewed Misery on + 22 more book reviews
Misery is one of Stephen King's best stories ever. Edge of your seat, page turning thriller. It is what nightmares are made of.
jazzysmom avatar reviewed Misery on + 907 more book reviews
I love all King book. But I do have favorites. Salems Lot, The Shinning, and Misery all time tops--could read them over and over. Makes you wonder when you read this where in the heck Mr. King comes up with this stuff!! Thank goodness he does--he has been keeping me awake for years and i love it!!!
reviewed Misery on + 6 more book reviews
Although Misery was a page turner, I did find some areas difficult to keep up with. But overall I really enjoyed the book.
skysky avatar reviewed Misery on + 5 more book reviews
The movie was phenomenal, and of course the book just sweeps it away. It's a great read. It seemed like it went fast for me, but I saw the movie 12-million times before picking up the book. That and I was so enthralled I couldn't put it down and finished it the same day.

It's Stephen King. Are you really needing to read the reviews to see if its good? Of course it's good.
reviewed Misery on
All right - yes, I'm a rabid King fan. I think I have all of his books on my shelf now (and even some books about him). This one is SO good! Even the movie was great, although there were some significant changes in it that I wasn't crazy about. This is one that ties you to your chair, and you read on and on and on . . . into the dark!
dsbuttons02 avatar reviewed Misery on
Wow, this book is so much better then the movie. It got to the point I couldn't put it down. There is a little wear and tear but all in all good condition, and a great read!
flying-monkeys avatar reviewed Misery on
One of King's best works, especially if you're into psychological horror versus the more fantastical elements of standard "horror," such as vampires, werewolves, etc.

ISBN 0-670-81364-8 *is* indeed a hardcover.
blueeyedcyn avatar reviewed Misery on
One of Stephen Kings best. All you want in a horror book, creepy, suspensful, and not for the faint of heart. This book will cause nightmares. It is a must read.
reviewed Misery on
was very good
reviewed Misery on + 80 more book reviews
story of a woman obsessed with her favorite author who gets stuck at her house...

Book Wiki

People/Characters
Annie Wilkes (Major Character)
Paul Sheldon (Major Character)

Genres:

Tagshorror