From a Buick 8 [Paperback]

Stephen King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2003

For twenty years the officers in Pennsylvania State Police Barracks have kept a secret in Shed B. A vintage Buick which lures the troopers to come and take a look. Now young Ned Wilcox, son of the recently deceased officer Curt, has started hanging around the Barracks. One day he can't resist peeking through the windows. And it's time to share the secret. So the veteran troopers sit Ned down on the smoking bench and tell him every skin-curdling detail - from the Buick's arrival to the terrifying light-shows and what it sucks in and breathes out. For the Buick is a conduit to another world. As King puts it, "when we confront the deep and authentic unknown, we glimpse that place where our familiar universe stops".

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A beautiful excursion into new narrative territory showing an accomplished storyteller making unusual choices and resisting the obvious at every turn...a portal into King's incredible imagination' Matt Thorne, Independent on Sunday on FROM A BUICK 8 'Excellent on police lore and procedure...enriched by a double plot that shows men ageing, changing and disappearing over two decades!Impressive in its handling of narrative voice and structure as well as character' The Sunday Times on FROM A BUICK 8 'A voice as distinctive as it is compelling' Scotsman on FROM A BUICK 8 'Stephen King is blessed with an apparently inexhaustible imagination and a talent for storytelling that shows little sign of waning. In his hands at least, the art is far from being lost' Daily Mail on EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL 'Still on top of his game!An unusual and disturbing mix that no other modern writer could pull off' The Times on EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL 'Astonishingly good' - Independent on HEARTS IN ATLANTIS 'Accomplished!unputdownable!his mesmerising best' - Observer on BAG OF BONES 'King has inspired a whole generation to read. He's made them read good, witty prose...a fabulous teller of stories who can create an entire new world and make the reader live in it' - Express on DREAMCATCHER

About the Author

Stephen King is the bestselling author of more than thirty books of which the most recent are HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, DREAMCATCHER and EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL. He lives with his wife, the novelist Tabitha King, in Bangor, Maine

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: New English Library (May 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340770708
• ISBN-13: 978-0340770702
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Troop D, Shed B, Code D, and the PSP., September 6, 2010

By 

R. Gobbe "AuthorityFigure" (Byron Bay, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From a Buick 8 (Paperback)

Pennsylvania is the setting for this strange blend of the supernatural and everyday elements. It's easy to forget that though, and it's only King's constant mention of the PSP (Pen. State Police) that kept me from mentally reverting to King's default locale: New England.

Although the location has it's own modest indentity, it really is secondary to the people residing and working there. Troop D (our Buick care-takers and protagonists) show us glimpses of police duties (mostly gruesome) and the dedication and cost of working for the State police. This cost extends to baby-sitting an impounded Buick that acts as a gateway between Earth and... somewhere.

Ned embodies the reader and our position - he's new to the troop and full of questions. His superiors are sympathetic yet strangely resentful toward him when relating the history of the troop and the Buick altogether. King starts his story in reverse, and we are brought up-to-date through a retelling that spans 90% of the text. 50% of this is superb, 50% is redundant.

From a Buick 8 echoes King's peak of writing the short novel (Different Seasons), but maybe 100 pages or so too long. The unfolding of what we Really Want To Know is frustratingly teased before us - filled with distractions about animal biology and details of what turn out to be (by the character's own admissions) not worth worrying about.

Nevertheless, I think this novel was a surprising read, delivering more than it's goofy title ever promised, and showing us that King can write from more than one perspective very successfully.