The Stand by Stephen King - Meeting No. 1
Details
Note: We are reading the Complete and Uncut version which originally came out in 1990. Please don’t get the original version, which came out in 1978, and has about 300 fewer pages.
Due to the length of this book, we will read it over three months, for our October, November and December meetings. For our October meeting, we will discuss Book I of the novel, which ends with Chapter 42.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Complete-Uncut-Stephen-King/dp/0385199570
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57666531
Synopsis:
Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting—and eerily plausible—as when it was first published.
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years! This edition includes all of the new and restored material first published in The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition.
A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge—Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them—and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
About the Author:
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes NEVER FLINCH, YOU LIKE IT DARKER (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), HOLLY (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), FAIRY TALE, BILLY SUMMERS, IF IT BLEEDS, THE INSTITUTE, ELEVATION, THE OUTSIDER, SLEEPING BEAUTIES (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: END OF WATCH, FINDERS KEEPERS, and MR. MERCEDES (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works THE DARK TOWER, IT, PET SEMATARY, DOCTOR SLEEP, and FIRESTARTER are the basis for major motion pictures, with IT now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
Author’s Website: https://stephenking.com/the-author/
YouTube Videos:
The Stand by Stephen King - Meeting No. 1