Lisey's Story

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Mare Winningham

Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Now an Apple TV+ limited series starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen

The “haunting...tender, intimate book that makes an epic interior journey” (The New York Times), Lisey’s Story is a literary masterpiece - an extraordinarily moving and haunting portrait of a marriage and its aftermath.

Lisey lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a 25-year marriage of profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, best-selling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey knew there was a place Scott went - a place that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it’s Lisey’s turn to face Scott’s demons, to go to that terrifying place known as Boo’ya Moon. What begins as a widow’s effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited.

“Intricate...exhilarating” (The New Yorker), perhaps Stephen King’s most personal and powerful novel ever, Lisey’s Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love. It is a beautiful, “rich portrait of a marriage, and the complicated affection that outlives death” (The Washington Post).

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©2006 Stephen King (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"As much about the facets of longtime marriage as it is about the characters themselves, Lisey's Story offers a poignant glimpse at abiding love and the tides of grief, and the internal language of relationships of all kinds." (Atlantic Monthly)

"In Lisey's Story, Stephen King makes bold, brilliant use of his satanic storytelling gift, his angelic ear for language, and above all his incomparable ability to find the epic in the ordinary." (Michael Chabon)

"Lisey's Story is bright and brilliant. It's dark and desperate. While I'll always consider The Shining, my first ride on King's wild Tilt-A-Whirl, a gorgeous, bloody jewel, I found, on this latest ride, a treasure box heaped with dazzling gems. A few of them have sharp, hungry teeth." (Nora Roberts)

Slow to get going. Not a great narration

If you enjoy hearing made up words like "blood bool" used a lot, I mean a lot, then you're in luck here. It takes a while for this one to get going, and I nearly gave up just as Lisey is about to be tortured by a psychopath. But after that (thankfully short) scene, things finally pick up a bit.

I personally did not care for Mare Winningham's narration. To me she sounds like a graduate student at a poetry reading.

Should have been better

While the story had flashes of King's usual brilliance, it just didn't seem to work very well. For starters, many parts seemed to drag on, or were irrelevant to the story. I honestly think it would have worked better if it had been shorter by a third. It just wasn't tight, and the story line didn't tie together very well for me.

On the positive side, Mare Winningham was a wonderful narrator. I always knew which character she was voicing, and she did them all very well. Also, King created another interesting parallel world for us. Unfortunately, it was somewhat wasted on a less-than-satisfying story. Perhaps we'll get to explore it more in a future book?

Extremely underrated piece of work

I have recently become an avid King fan and I stumbled upon this book by accident. I'm already halfway through my 2nd listening of it and the emotional roller coaster has not lessoned. It's a uniquely intimate story and of course has a dose of King's spooky otherworldliness. Great narration - Winningham steers the vocal nuances of each character masterfully and subtly to convey all of the context you need in order to follow the dialogue. Maybe this book is more popular than I've been able to see, but I'm just annoyed it isn't acknowledged as one of his all-time greatests.

good but not great

The story it ´s interesting but too long. I really like Stephen King thats why i keep listening, expecting the storry to get better, but never did.

Beautiful

This is a modern masterpiece. The beauty of language and the heart wrenching story are Stephen King’s joy in his craft.

a love story, but don't let that dissuade you...

it is a haunting love story. haunting, sometimes mystical, sometimes frightening. I loved it. the narration was one of the very best performances I've ever heard.

Phenomenal story! Engaging!

I loved this story. You broght me down to the pool and I drank deeply.

Not King's best, but not his worst either.

I struggled to get through some parts and tuned out some, while others were easy enough to pay attention to. A couple parts nearly put me to sleep while driving. I finished because I'm a fan of the man and hate not finishing a book one I've started. The narrator was ok.

Excellent

I couldn't stop listening. The story was completely original, and the performance exceptional. Loved it.

Compelling, creepy, beautiful, sweet

Loved this book. Sat in the car not willing to turn it off. The story is a beautiful love story with a scary, creepy underbelly. The characters and settings are vibrant and real. I was scared. And I cried at the end.