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The Stand  By  cover art

The Stand

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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Publisher's summary

This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides - or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail - and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

In 1978, Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.

Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition includes material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who heard The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are listening to The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.

Cover artwork ©2020 CBS Interactive Inc.

©1978 Stephen King (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

"A master storyteller." (Los Angeles Times)

"[The Stand] has everything. Adventure. Romance. Prophecy. Allegory. Satire. Fantasy. Realism. Apocalypse. Great!" (The New York Times Book Review)

"As brilliant a dark dream as has ever been dreamed in this century." (Palm Beach Post)

Featured Article: 15 Poignant and Postapocalyptic Listens for Fans of The Last of Us


Naughty Dog's postapocalyptic video game The Last of Us is a masterclass in storytelling. Celebrated for its complex ruminations on grief, morality, and redemption, this unique take on dystopia has maintained a steady fanbase since 2013. That following is set to grow following the debut of HBO's television adaptation—a breakout hit that sacrifices none of the emotional stakes or brilliant character work of its source material.

What listeners say about The Stand

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King's Best Work!

I've read the hard copy twice and listened to audio four times... It's THAT GOOD!

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Five times I have embarked on this journey!

Five times I have embarked on this journey! and five times I have been fully transported into it. Love this book! almost as much as I love the Dark Tower series! I highly recommend it!

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oh man, I loved it

the narrator couldn’t have been better, man this was such a good story. Get thru it. You won’t be disappointed

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Quintessential King with a very strong first 45%

The first 45% is utterly fantastic, but a couple chapters into part 2, I had to crank the speed up to 1.35 times to get through the parts that really dragged. There are many multi-hour-long chapters dedicated to characters I certainly didn't care about while I was reading and definitely don't care about now that I'm finished, but those chapters only made up around 6 or 7 hours of the total runtime. Overall, the cast is one of King's best, I just didn't personally jive with some characters that got too much runtime.

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  • 07-19-22

Narration is phenomenal

My first Stephen King novel and I loved it. The story is good, characters are great, and I'm sad it's over

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Long, but worth it!

This book is a very long book, and only listening to it during my commute to, and from work and occasionally during spare time took weeks to finish, but both the story, and the narrator kept my interest!

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A supernatural masterwork

Stephen King is known as one of the masters of horror fiction, but The Stand is proof that he is a master storyteller no matter the context. The Stand is a complex weaving of characters, whos lives intertwine, culminating in the ultimate showdown between the forces of good and evil. Grover Gardener (narrator) brings these characters to life with his reading. if you like a long playing story, The Stand is a must read

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Great Story! Vulgar though, which I should've knew

This was my first Stephen King read, and I definitely should have known that itd be vulgar 🥲

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One of king’s best!

I can’t believe the original release cut anything from this. From beginning to end it’s an absolute masterpiece.

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Wonderful

Has to be one of my favorite stories, but the reader did a wonderful job with his pitch and tone. The FULL story is the only way to enjoy this masterful tale. Thank you for turning it into an audio book💜

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