Thinner (Signet) [Paperback]

Stephen King (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 1, 1985 | Series: Signet

When an old gypsy man curses Billy Halleck for sideswiping his daughter, six weeks later he's ninety-three pounds lighter. Now Billy is terrified. And desperate enough for one last gamble...that will lead him to a nightmare showdown with the forces of evil melting his flesh away.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'An incredibly gifted writer, whose writing, like Truman Capote's, is so fluid that you often forget that you're reading' -- Guardian 'Astonishingly good...honourable, deeply felt and almost wonderful' -- Independent on HEARTS IN ATLANTIS --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Stephen King, the world's bestselling novelist, was educated at the University of Maine at Orono. He lives with his wife, the novelist Tabitha King, and their children in Bangor, Maine.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Signet; First Edition edition (September 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451161343
• ISBN-13: 978-0451161345
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (184 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #375,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Disturbing Ending of any Stephen King Book October 29, 1999

By Ryan Costantino

Format:Paperback

I liked this book. A lot. Stephen King is good at writing lengthy novels that don't really scare, but make you think "Hey, that was pretty damn cool". This book isn't very long; but that seems to be of little importance. The fact is that of all the books Stephen King has written, this is the one with the scariest ending. Gypsy curses and the overall moral message of the book "You Are Responsible For Your Actions!" all come to a nice crescendo. An actual feeling of horror (ok, maybe not horror but a feeling of unease) sticks with you after you read the book. There is actual impact in retrospect of this book. It will bother you (provided you possess a soul). By the way, DO NOT SEE THE MOVIE FIRST!!!! It will ruin the book. Read the book first, then watch the horrible movie. If not for anything other than the small part the author plays.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A fun read, even if there were some warts June 28, 2007

By Matthew Warner

Format:Hardcover

I just finished listening to this audiobook, and I really don't know where AudioFile gets off slamming Joe Mantegna's performance. He did a wonderful job with the different character's voices, especially the old gypsy and mobster. His performance certainly kept me entertained while commuting to and from work.

Stephen King also did an admirable job, and I enjoyed the book a lot. It has its warts, but overall it was a clever parable about revenge and indulgence. There was really only one scene that gave me an, "Oh, come on!" reaction, and that was when the main character conveniently encounters the retiree in the bar who tells him the anecdote about the gypsies. What were the chances that in such a crazily crowded resort town that Billy would run into this guy? Kind of thin, I would say. The ending of the story was also a bit predictable, and I think King relied way too heavily on dream sequences as a plotting device.

But still, it was a pretty good book. I particularly admired King's invention of the Italian mobster character as a way to escalate the story's conflict without exacting a price against our sympathy for the main character. If it had been Billy Halleck committing all those deeds--poisoning dogs, shooting cars full of holes, and threatening to kill pretty young women--then we would've liked him a lot less. But by assigning those actions to a secondary character who reacts to these events with shock and abhorrence, the story could advance and leave our sympathy for the main character intact.

Even then, those clever mechanisms of characterization weren't enough for me to completely like Billy Halleck.... From the beginning, he was a repellant character: an overweight lawyer who, through his town's good ole boy network, escaped a vehicular manslaughter conviction. That's a tall deck to stack against your own protagonist at the beginning of a story and still hope to generate reader sympathy. And yet King still managed to make me like Billy, somewhat, through most of the book.

The only other thing I have to say is that I wish the character of the young, pretty gypsy girl hadn't just dropped off the map towards the end of the story. Yes, she served her purpose well, but there was such a great setup about her that I wish she could have taken a more meaningful role towards the end. Read more ›

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars This is One of King's Better Novels February 9, 2007

By Thriller Lover VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

THINNER, which was originally written in 1984, is a very effective novel. I've read most of King's books, and I would place this one in the top half. This book isn't necessarily horrific or scary, but it's pretty suspenseful. Unlike some of King's later books, this novel is short and tightly written, and it kept me interested until the very end.

This novel deals with a overweight lawyer who is rapidly growing thinner, due to a curse inflicted upon him by gypsies. THINNER is unique in the sense that the main character is not a particularly heroic person, and in many ways is trying to escape responsibility for his own actions. This may turn off some readers, but I enjoyed this story's moral complexity. The ending of THINNER won't please everyone, but I felt it was appropriate and consistent with the overall point of the storyline.

This novel isn't a classic, but it's a solid effort by one of the best genre writers around. Highly recommended for King fans.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars More Gross than Scary April 9, 2002

By Julian King

Format:Paperback

This is not the best or worst from Stephen King based on the novels of his that I've read. The idea is great and the story has an evil undercurrent running through it which is a trademark of Kings.

The basic story is how lawyer Billy Halleck and two others from his town cross a gypsy elder who then lays a different curse on each of them. Billy's curse is that he just keeps getting thinner, regardless of what he eats, every day he loses a few more pounds. The two other townsfolk have horrid curses inflicted on them, I don't want to give too much away but the reason for the skin disease is a bit confusing to me.

The curses themselves are absolutely disgusting and if King's idea was to make me feel a bit ill, it worked. Only thing is that it detracts from the enjoyment of the book. I prefer the scary approach to his novels. He also has a tendency to paint his main characters with flaws that leave you unsure as to whether you should hope they get out of the predicament or are happy for them to meet the fate they deserve. Once you meet the gypsies and find they are just as despicable as the cursed characters the book just becomes a race to the end to find out what happens. You don't end up barracking for anyone.

One character I did enjoy was the Ginelli, the New York mobster who comes to save Billy. He has an honesty that the other characters seem to lack but his motivation for getting involved in the situation as deeply as he does is unclear, and his fate is predictable.

Plenty of shocks and horror but it appears to be one that was done with less care than many of his others. However it is comparitvely short so if you are a fan and don't want to commit to one of his lengthy efforts then this is worth a try.