UR [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Stephen King (Author), Holter Graham (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 16, 2010

 

FIRST TIME ON AUDIO...

An Unabridged Novella Unavailable In Any Collection!

Tapping into our primal fears of modern technology that made Cell a #1 bestseller, Stephen King sets his sights on the latest high-tech gadget in UR, in which a mysterious e-book reader opens a disturbing window into other worlds.

Reeling from a painful break-up, English instructor and avid book lover Wesley Smith is haunted by his ex-girlfriend's parting shot: "Why can't you just read off the computer like everyone else?" He buys an e-book reader out of spite, but soon finds he can use the device to glimpse realities he had never before imagined, discovering literary riches beyond his wildest dreams...and all-too-human tragedies that surpass his most terrible nightmares.

From vintage cars (Christine and From a Buick 8) to household appliances (Maximum Overdrive) to exercise equipment (Stationary Bike), Stephen King has mesmerized us with tales of apparently ordinary machines that take on lives of their own. UR gives this classic theme an up-to-the-minute spin, resulting in a horror masterpiece for our time and for the ages.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Since his first novel was published in 1974, Stephen King has stretched the boundaries of the storyteller as a writer who constantly redefines his readers' experience by working in various genres and formats . Whether in an epic horror novel, like THE STAND, a serial-novel like THE GREEN MILE, or a novella like SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, King is able to deliver a reading experience like no one else can. As quickly as a spider spins its web, King reminds us why he's the master of the novella - a format which, up until now that is, one might have thought is fast disappearing. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Wesley Smith buys an Amazon Kindle to keep his mind off his recent nasty breakup, but he finds that his version is no ordinary e-reading device. Smith's Kindle has a special Ur option, which reveals the future and all the works his favorite authors have written in parallel dimensions. However, when the Ur delivers news of terrible events on the way, Smith must decide if he should interfere in fate. While King can certainly spin a good story, the Amazon Kindle focus (the story was written exclusively for and can only be read on an Amazon Kindle) keeps this one feeling like an advertising gimmick. While listeners can easily follow Holter Graham's narration, his style and projection aren't particularly impressive. He is consistent with his characterizations, but his light nasal voice lacks energy and momentum, and given that King's voice is quite similar to Graham's and King can narrate just as well, it seems unnecessary to have enlisted Graham, whose performance adds little additional flare. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Unabridged edition (February 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442303093
• ISBN-13: 978-1442303096
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (421 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Books on CD > Horror
  • #2 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( K ) > King, Stephen
  • #3 in Books > Books on CD > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

More About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was also a bestseller. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

432 of 454 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stephen King- Still Near the Top of His Game, February 12, 2009

By 

Matthew Erwin (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: UR (Kindle Edition)

Stephen King has graced us kindle owners with a bit of surprise. Coming out a few weeks early, UR downloaded to my Kindle this morning and 90 minutes later I had devoured its 1737 locations.

UR settles into a space somewhere between a short story and a novella. The premise is simple but fascinating. After a mild mannered college professor orders a Kindle, he is met with a pink Kindle that downloads books not only from Amazon.com, but from Urs. Each of the more than 10 million Urs seem to represent a different reality where authors have written different books. Ever wanted to read the unpublished Hemingway book, or six Poe novels? King explores the possibilities and in the process makes every literary mind jealous.

Of course, being King, things start to go wrong and become disturbing when the professor finds out that the pink Kindle can also download newspapers from different Urs. I'll let you discover the rest on your own.

Ur moves quick and features some cameo appearances by past King characters that will leave the most cynical CR smiling. It falls short of five stars simply because it is measured against other great King novellas and novels, but UR is a great diversion for any King fan.

155 of 161 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story! And I'm not even a fan!, February 13, 2009

By 

An Ikearat's Brain "Tom" (Texas, Gulf Coast) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: UR (Kindle Edition)

I usually don't even think of Stephen King when I go looking for something to read on my Kindle. That changed today. I'm sure you all remember the condition you were in when you walked out into the "real world" after seeing Star Wars for the first time... snapped-back from a total imersion, allmost dizzy from the exposure to thoughts and possibilities at the edge of your imagination! I have seen a few of the movies made from Mr. King's books and while intertaining, I never put too much thought to the stories involved. Perhaps I should -read- some of those stories. Another reviewer said this story, "UR" should be included with new Kindles. I say it should by required reading for anyone who reads from a portable device!
Well done Mr. King, I'm your newest fan!
And yes, I did press the "Next Page" key, both at the end of the story AND on the Experimental page :)
(review writen on a Kindle!)

104 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, February 17, 2009

By 

Bobbi (New Orleans) - See all my reviews

This review is from: UR (Kindle Edition)

A classic Stephen King tale, you start out walking in someone's ordinary, everyday shoes and before you know it you're tap dancing out there where the oxygen is thin.

When I was a kid reading comic books, I wanted to buy a box they advertised in the back pages, a box where you put in a dime at one end and take out a quarter at the opposite end. That is just what this Stephen King story does. It begins with an ordinary man doing an ordinary thing and then he misses the importance of the small clue that he has gone beyond normal until he is waaaay beyond normal. We've all done that, right? Sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we get out by the skin of our teeth. In King's stories, you're never sure which it will be.

I really wish this had been a full length book, rather than a novella. The end left me wanting more.