Fairy Tale

Description

by Stephen King

• Many of King’s books have been turned into celebrated films, including Stand by Me, The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption.
• Stephen is multi-award winning author.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself – and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and his aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it. Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.

Reviews

‘Stephen King has all the daring, enchantment and even romance of a classic bedtime story, but King’s signature unsettling style will keep you sitting up straight and wide-eyed rather than drifting off to dreamland.’ Vanity Fair

‘You’ll be grateful that there are 600-plus pages of it to remind you several times over how much fun that kind of reading experience is… Good, evil, a kingdom to save, monsters to slay—these are the stuff that page-turners are made from.’ Laura Miller, Slate

‘A page-turner driven by memorably strange encounters and well-rendered, often thrilling action.’ The New York Times Book Review

‘An enthralling, adventurous read that will, like any genuine fairy tale, scare you half to death and lift up your heart… A splendid work of world-building.’Colette Bancroft, The Tampa Bay Tribune

‘Once upon a time, Stephen King dared to write a novel called ‘Fairy Tale’ and totally lived up to that simple but lofty title… The book bursts with creativity… A profound story of good vs. evil that’s timeless and timely… life-affirming… After turning that last page, you’ll feel a little stronger in spirit, yearn for another story and, dare we say, maybe even live happily ever after.’ Brian Truitt, USA Today

‘Lovely… captures the creeping suspense of childhood classics.’ The Chicago Tribune

‘If writing this beautiful, exciting, touching fairy tale did the trick for him, then imagine what it will do for you as a reader.’ Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News

‘Ambitious, pure, and powerful… One of King’s grandest narrative statements, and another must-read book from a master.’ Matthew Jackson, Syfy Wire

About the author

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1971, he 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. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 50 books and has become one of the world’s most successful writers. King is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.

Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.

Media

He has put some of his college dramatic society experience to use doing cameos in several of the film adaptations of his works as well as a bit part in a George Romero picture, Knightriders. Joe Hill King also appeared in Creepshow, which was released in 1982. Stephen made his directorial debut, as well as writing the screenplay, for the movie Maximum Overdrive (an adaptation of his short story “Trucks”) in 1985.

Stephen and Tabitha provide scholarships for local high school students and contribute to many other local and national charities.

Stephen is the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.