The Stand

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 47 hrs and 47 mins

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)

the added detail to the story

i think it was much better than the movie.i liked the added detail to the story line.

Amazing

This is old King at his finest. If you don't enjoy copious backstory and extra details that paint a razor sharp picture of a desolate landscape and (sometimes too many to remember) complex, interesting characters, this book is not for you. If you DO enjoy those things, along with an intensely compelling and sometimes heart wrenching plot that took me two months to listen through, spend that credit, people! You'll sit at the edge of your seat, laugh, cry, and cringe your way through the sometimes apocalyptic, sometimes cheesy, and sometimes terrifying plot of The Stand. Couldn't. Recommend. Enough.

best book I've ever read

This book is massive, and at first with the long exposition that comes with it, I kept starting and stopping, but it's all important, and boy is it worth it. this book had me banging my steering wheel with anger, crying in tears and in the next moment I'd be laughing. It's a big book, but I promise you can't go wrong with this book. 5 stars, might even read again

Kings quality of writing is at its best with the Stand!

I loved this book from start to finish. King was at his best with the Stand!

But with a whimper.

Love it. Both movie adaptions did ok but no where near as good as this book.

Hiw similar these fictitious events were to COVID-19 events

The story was a hard one to listen to but could not stop. Have recommended the book to others.

the characters are, as always, full of life and somehow relatable no matter what their situation, good or bad.

I love how SK pulls no punches when it comes to knocking characters off. That gut punch sticks with you and make his stories that much more enjoyable and memorable

Great narrator

Really put a lot of effort into the voices. With a book such as this with so many characters, being able to more easily distinguish them by voice helps tremendously.

reminded of why I've always loved King's mind..

I was given this book many years ago as a Christmas gift by my mother, amid others by king. she knew I had been captured by his writing since I was about 11. this story, if that's what it can be called, makes you not only feel and care for the characters, but makes you THINK about humanity and where we could end up if we choose the dark alley. I am truly happy I revisited this place, not by reading the original book, but by listening to this expanded original story. It is all still there, just more ...like dark chocolate chips added to dark chocolate brownies.

The best book ever!

This is my favorite of all books I have ever read. King grabs you by the bootstraps and pulls you into a story based on such a basic concept, good versus evil. But you cannot escape, you are pulled deeper and deeper into the characters and story until you are right there with them.
King creates a world around you, complete with all the emotions, senses, sights, fears, joys, and experiences of each character in the story.
The hardest part of this book is listening to the last words of the story and yearning to continue the journey, continue to enjoy the company and experiences of each person you now know and consider as close friends.
Absolute perfection, and an experience that has not disappointed any of the 3 times I have read this book. However, this unabridged version that includes hundreds of pages left on the editors floor in the first release, was like meeting each character in person, traveling with each of them step by step, experiencing what they experienced and how they felt. Getting to know them as if they were right there with from the fist time you are introduced to them to the last moment you spend with them on their journey.
A must read for anyone and everyone who wants to experience a journey with friends, enemies, good and evil that will hold a place within your memory and heart forever more.
Stephen, Thank you for the journey and for introducing me to people I feel I will actually miss now that i have finished the book.