Different SeasonsDifferent Seasons
What it's about
Stephen King's collection of four novellas mostly isn't horror. In "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," a banker wrongly convicted of murder survives decades in a Maine prison. In "Apt Pupil," a teenage boy discovers that an old man in his neighborhood is a Nazi war criminal and becomes obsessed with him. In "The Body," four boys set out to see a dead body in the woods. "The Breathing Method" is a strange tale told at a gentlemen's club.
Why it's worth reading
It was a #1 New York Times bestseller, and three of its four novellas became films: The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me and Apt Pupil. It's King at his most humane.
You'll love it if you liked
The Green Mile, 11/22/63 or The Stand
Good to know
Apt Pupil is very dark, with graphic violence. The Shawshank and Stand by Me stories are a good place to start.
By the numbers
- Readers94 out of 100 · counts 40%+42
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%+0
- Bestseller58 out of 100 · counts 32% (its stronger lane)+21
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 15%+0
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero.
#1 New York Times bestseller (3 weeks at #1). 4.36★ from 227K Goodreads ratings.
Where it ranks
- #3 of the 69 horror books we rank
- #76 of the 519 classics we rank
- #199 of the 1,404 books we rank
Bestseller
- #1 New York Times bestseller (3 weeks at #1)
Reads as
Gripping, Dark
More by Stephen King
The Stand
11/22/63
It
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
