Desperation - What a Dark Book

[Jojo87]

For me this book wasn't dark. But maybe little bit weird. I liked the story in the book and didn't have any problems to finished it. I think I read it again sometimes.

[jackson992]

This is to date one of my favorite King books, The only one I like better is The Regulators just because that one seems to move faster

[blunthead]

This is to date one of my favorite King books, The only one I like better is The Regulators just because that one seems to move faster

Whenever I'm asked or I just ponder which sK is my personal favorite I always think of Desperation first. Sure, I remember Bag of Bones and Misery, and then this short story and that.

I identify with those who've found it too much, due to life experiences they were facing at the time, because, in my case, I love it because of my own life experiences.

Any book so powerful to a (constant) reader demands at least a second chance.

[PatInTheHat]

Ya know, this was one I that didn't do much for me when I first read it, in a just in my spare time kind of way.
I mean I didn't dislike it, it just didn't do much for me..it was just a decent enough read, and maybe a little disappointing.

I had a paperback of it packed away in a travel bag a few years ago when I went on a trip to Louisiana.
One thing led to another and I ended coming back home the long way on a Greyhound...Ahhh the smell of mostly digested burritos in the morning..afternoon...midnight, with a faint whiff of...Oh My God What In The Is That??!!.

Anyway, I found Desperation in my bag and read it on The Hound.
Holy Smoke what a difference ones unfortunate situation and stifling discomfort can make!
I don't know if my deep south mass transit road trip just tuned me up, or what my problem could have been the first time I read it, but it was the most polar opposite re-read reaction I've ever had with any book.
I really got into it (you know, in that breathless I forgot to breath kind of way), the miles just flew by un seen, and every now and again I'd get a question or comment about the book..or another or Mr King's work during stops.
I met maybe a half dozen admitted fans, including one bus driver...lot of readers on da bus is what I'm sayin'!
I was done by Bowling Green Ky., and ended up giving that copy to a little Latin horse jockey dude in Louisville Ky., who started up a conversation and said Stephen King & Clive barker movies & books (and Oprah & Jerry Springer..yeah, I know, some scary huh?) helped him learn English better...if you ever meet a jockey, take note, they's twisted..and take heed, great poker players too.
Of course, I hope he shared it with a horse of course, Mr. Ed.

I read it again maybe two years ago, and it was still just as good as the second time...like a good 'n hot giant garlic gherkin

[Snaggletooth]

I don't know that Deperation is any darker than SK's other works; it is horror fiction after all. Perhaps because it's set in the desert?

It's certainly one of his more well-witten novels, IMO. The Regulators, which was published simultaneously, had a lot of the same characters in it. Now that was a strange tale......

[kitten32]

hi there, well i haven't read the book desperation but hearing all this i don't know if i will read it. i want to figure it out myself
and see why it is so dark. i bought the regulators and i just started reading it.

[#1fanofking]

This was my first King book and it made me fall in love with his writing

[GNTLGNT]

It made me swear off the old mine expedition I was planning(Alright, I wasn't REALLY planning one-but if I had been, it's dead now-TAK!)

[Bubonic]

First book I ever read by him, probably first adult fiction book I got onto after graduating from Goosebumps and Fear Street. All I remember now is a scene with the kid pushing his head through prison bars, some type of steadily decaying sheriff man, and a long ago graphic asian orgy deep in the mines. 'Twas some perverse stuff for a newly pubescent boy to be reading as I recall, and I do remember it feeling grim aswell. Never read the Regulators though.

[Silhouette86]

Desperation had a lot of Richard Bachman in it. The Regulators and Desperation are linked, and I would not be surprised while writing that Richard Bachman was right there in his mind while he wrote Desperation. Desperation is one of the best Stephen King books ever written. It gets you right from the start.