1987 "First published in 1987 by Viking Penguin, Inc." stated; Viking publishers, New York; hardbound in ash grey and black boards with "SK" red foil on cover and red foil lettering along spine; very good condition with unmarked, clean pages; dust jacket very good.
Description -
Misery is a 1987 psychological horror thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1988, and was later made into a Hollywood film and an off-Broadway play of the same name. When King was writing Misery in 1985 he planned the book to be released under the pseudonym Richard Bachman but the identity of the pseudonym was discovered before the release of the book.
The novel focuses on Paul Sheldon, a writer famous for Victorian-era romance novels involving the character of Misery Chastain. One day he is rescued from a car crash by crazed fan Annie Wilkes, who transports him to her house and, once finding out what he has done to Misery in his latest book, forces him to write a new book modifying the story – no matter what it takes
Plot -
Paul Sheldon, the author of the best-selling series of Victorian era romance novels surrounding the character Misery Chastain, had just finished the manuscript of his new crime novel, Fast Cars. He has an alcohol-induced impulse to drive to Los Angeles rather than fly back home to New York City, but is caught in a snowstorm in a remote section of Colorado, causing him to drive off a cliff and crash into a snowbank. He awakens to find that he has been rescued by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse living nearby.
Annie is an avid reader of Paul's Misery series, proclaiming herself Paul's "number one fan." She refuses to take Paul to the hospital despite his having two severely broken legs, nursing Paul herself using her stockpiled food and illicit stash of codeine-based painkillers, to which he quickly becomes addicted. When Annie finally reads Misery's Child, the last book in the Misery series, Annie learns that Paul has killed protagonist Misery Chastain off. She falls into a rage, leaving Paul alone in her house for over two days, sending him into withdrawal and a semi-comatose state.
When Annie returns, she forces him to burn his new manuscript – which he hoped would launch his post-Misery career – and presents him with an antique Royal typewriter, for the purpose of writing a new Misery novel that will bring the character back from the dead.
Biding his time, Paul begins a new book, Misery's Return, and allows Annie to read it as he writes. He manages to escape his room in a wheelchair on several different occasions, searching for more painkillers and exploring the house. He discovers that her telephone does not work, and finds a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings, suggesting that she is a serial killer who has murdered over thirty people, and was charged but acquitted of killing infants at a Boulder hospital maternity ward. Meanwhile, Annie grows increasingly depressive, and reveals that she knows about Paul leaving his room...