mass market paperback, 318 pages
English language
Published Nov. 3, 1996 by Signet.
Thinner is a horror novel by American author Stephen King, published in 1984 by NAL under King's pseudonym Richard Bachman. The story centers on lawyer Billy Halleck, who kills a crossing Romani woman in a road accident and escapes legal punishment because of his connections. However, the woman's father places a curse on Halleck, which causes him to lose weight uncontrollably. King, who was overweight at the time of the novel's writing, created the novel's outline following an annual medical examination. Following the book's release, media outlets discussed the similarities between the works of Bachman and King. Eventually, bookstore clerk Stephen Brown, a fan of King's work, located evidence from copyright data held in the Library of Congress that Bachman and King were the same person. After the secret of King's pseudonym was revealed, sales of Thinner increased tenfold. In total, over three million copies of Thinner have been sold. …
Thinner is a horror novel by American author Stephen King, published in 1984 by NAL under King's pseudonym Richard Bachman. The story centers on lawyer Billy Halleck, who kills a crossing Romani woman in a road accident and escapes legal punishment because of his connections. However, the woman's father places a curse on Halleck, which causes him to lose weight uncontrollably. King, who was overweight at the time of the novel's writing, created the novel's outline following an annual medical examination. Following the book's release, media outlets discussed the similarities between the works of Bachman and King. Eventually, bookstore clerk Stephen Brown, a fan of King's work, located evidence from copyright data held in the Library of Congress that Bachman and King were the same person. After the secret of King's pseudonym was revealed, sales of Thinner increased tenfold. In total, over three million copies of Thinner have been sold. Critical reception to Thinner was polarized; some reviewers disliked the authorship deception and pessimistic ending, while others held these same points as merits of the book. The literary style, however, was generally praised. A film adaptation was released in 1996.
2.5*
Doing a read through of King’s work is a task. He’s not my favorite author. He has some great books. Annnnd he has some dogs. This is in between. There’s some great storytelling and there’s some very lazy plot holes. It’s that book where you just think, “why would you do it that way” the whole way through. Not feeling more complete having read this.
King is a tremendous story teller. The little portraits he makes of the people in his stories are great.
What intrigues me about this story (a few minutes after I finished it) is ambivalence:
- Billy is a victim of a curse, but he's sort of an ass hole too. Prepared to pass on the curse on to his wife? And his (lack of) emotional response to the death of his friend Ginelli? Daring to blame the Gypsy woman partly for her own death?
- The old Magyar put on the curse, but isn't he dealing some justice?
... and King does put some perspective on the lives of the Traveling folks - not only by their own mouths (like the beautiful and violent Gina) but also by the words of the police chief - one of the victims of the curse.
