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)

one of my favorite

loved it then, love it now, will always come back to read it again. classic.

Amazing!!!

Narrator was PERFECT! He did all the voices beautifully, especially Tom and the Dark Man. There were some difficult parts, but the narrator was spectacular. I love Stephen King...simply the best there is, as this book demonstrates. Exceeded my expectations!

great narration and story. very good listen

Would you consider the audio edition of The Stand to be better than the print version?

much better with characters and different personalities

What other book might you compare The Stand to and why?

i like the passage. similar but further in the future

What about Grover Gardner’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed his voice.

If you could rename The Stand, what would you call it?

i don't know.

Any additional comments?

i've always enjoyed stephen king. i read the stand when it came out. this is my third time

Loonnngg listen but some genuinely creepy moments

I mainly listened to the book alone, in the car, driving home on a long country road in the middle of the night. I don't think there could be a better way to read "the Stand"

Being a big fan of the 'end of the world/epidemic/apocalypse' genre, I had been meaning to read the Stand for a while. You hear a lot about it. But to be honest, part of the reason I downloaded this book is because I wanted to get the biggest bang for my buck, and this version is almost 48 hours long. That's like, $1 for every three hours or something.

Now, knowing the length, I expected some parts to be long-winded and boring. And I was ok with that. If you listen to a 48 hour book and expect every moment to be riveting, well sir, I think your standards are a little too high.

I am by no means a huge Stephen King aficionado - the only other novel I've read was Carrie - but I sort of know what to expect with him. There's going to be some super creepiness, but not in the way that a ghost scratching on the insane asylum wall is creepy - King's creepy is more ... weird creepy. My immediate response to listening to 'The Stand' was sort of like "Wow, this is the weirdest freaking thing ever. Stephen King, you weird" and a few hours/days later, when I'd gotten over the weird, THEN my response was "Holy crap, that got under my skin." Maybe that's why people like Stephen King so much.

Anyways, it took a long time to finish this book but I'm glad I made it through. The narrator did a good job adding to the creepy - especially when he was doing the voice for Randall Flagg and The Kid. "You believe that, happy crappy?"

Recommended if you've got a long drive ahead and aren't concerned about being a little creeped out along the way.

For the love of all things holy do NOT try to watch the 1994 miniseries.

The best

Masterful! from story to character development, this novel has it all. A must read

One of the best.

I believe this is one of the best books I've read. This is a must read.

Love this book!

Have read the book several times and the Audible version is just fantastic! Great narration!

excellent!!

And the narration was absolutely supreme! King at his absolute best. Highly recomended to anyone

Fantastic!

seen the movie many years ago and I've always been a Stephen King fan but this is one book that I've never actually read. not only is the story great, especially in its unabridged version, but the narrator of the story does a fantastic job in his delivery as well as being able to simulate multiple personalities.

bravo!

the extended version is so much better than the shorter version I read previously. also, the gentleman that read it for audible was outstanding in his performance. bravo! bravo!