

|
|
GoldLyrics.com - Just After Sunset: Stories

|
List Price: $28.00
Our Price: $16.80
Your Save: $ 11.20 ( 40% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Scribner
|
Average Customer Rating:     

|
|
Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9781416584087 ISBN: 1416584080 Label: Scribner Manufacturer: Scribner Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 384 Publication Date: 2008-11-11 Publisher: Scribner Release Date: 2008-11-11 Studio: Scribner
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
|
Stephen King -- who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies -- delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007, King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications. Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating -- and then terrifying -- journey. Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable -- and resourceful -- as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In "Ayana," a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.," which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it. Just After Sunset -- call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:      Summary: Nothing Scary Comment: I have been looking forward to this book since I heard about it - I usually like his short stories. Not so much this one. There really wasn't anything that was scary - occasionally thought provoking yes, scary no. The only story I really liked was the one about the stationary bike - and it was more of a black comedy.
What really bothered me in this book was the amount of violence towards women. Yes, I hear you laughing - that is usually a staple in horror stories in general and I can't escape the fact that Rose Madder, Dolores Claibourne and Gerald's Game were full of violence towards women. Maybe it disturbed me this time because there was so much of it in one place and it was so graphic, I can't quite put my finger on why it bothred me so much this time. Definately not one of my favorites.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Can't get warm. Comment: This collection of stories, written over a number of years (I remember reading "The Cat from Hell" when I was 18 or 19, in the Year's Best Horror Stories) shows that King has never lost his touch, and that short stories are still his finest format. "Harvey's Dream" is breathtakingly terrifying for anyone who has children, "The Gingerbread Girl" is better than 99% of the movies made with similar themes these days, and reading "N." was like plunging into an icy lake in Canada in the middle of February. I still can't get warm. Whole-heartedly recommended.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Read "Everything's Eventual" instead ... Comment: I enjoy King's stories very much (having read "Night Shift" twice and "Everything's Eventual" three times) so I was looking very forward to SK's new book of short stories. However, these stories fell flat for me. You could see what was coming a mile away ("Willa", for example) in some and others seemed like an exercise for creative writing class ("Harvey's Dream"). As an almost lifelong King fan, I STRONGLY recommend reading "Everything's Eventual" instead. With the exception of "Luckey Quarter" (maybe I just didn't get it), EVERY story in that collection is excellent and "1408" will blow you away - much, much better than the film adaptation.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Short stories by the King Comment: As Stephen King's novels have grown to be more and more bloated, I have stopped reading them. His short stories, however, don't cry out for an editor with a fast red pencil, so I still enjoy them. This latest collection is no exception. As wtih any short story collection, the entries are going to be a bit uneven, with many very good ones, some good ones, and a few not so good (which even Mr. King admits in his introduction). Even a not so good story by Mr. King is often superior to short stories by many other authors, so I do recommend this book. It's not a behemoth doorstopper like his novels, and some of the stories will scare the heck out of you. That's all I ask from Mr. King, and he has certainly delivered!
Customer Rating:      Summary: What happened to the old Stephen King? Comment: I've read all of Stephen King's books except for that Dark Tower stuff. I remember the days when Mr.King's books were thrilling page turners. His last few novels, from "Dreamcatcher" on, have not held my interest at all. I felt some hope seeing Mr. King had a new short story book out. His short stories never disappointed me.....until now.
This collection didn't hold my interest. Makes me sad to say so.
Most of the stories start off promising, but get dull.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|