WHY? Why is the ending to the book given away in the beginning of THE very book?

[pjmorin]

I am highly highly disturbed at the fact that the ending to this book was given away very blatently in the beginning of the book, in the 'importance of being Bachman' section!! On page vii, last paragraph, very explicitly states EXACTLY the ending 'twist' of the book...which didnt end up being a twist at all since i, unfortunately and unwittingly, knew how it ended before i even read the first word of the Running Man.

Now, Stephen King is easily and hands down my favorite author and have read nearly all of his works. His Dark Tower series is so amazingly well written and such a fantastic story...that it almost ruined reading for me in that nothing i read for quite some time after finishing the series seemed to stack up. Every book i read seemed dull and boring in comparison to the Dark Tower. (I only solved this problem and was able to enjoy other novels again was by reading the entire series through a second time lol). And more specifically to the topic of this post, i very much enjoyed The Running Man, and thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. Infact, was probably one of, if not THE fastest i have read through a King book. It was such a good tale that i could not put the book down.

I enjoyed it riiiiight up to the point where i incredulously realized that the spoiler WAS infact given away, quite clearly and blatently at that, in the very beginning of the book!! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???? How does something like that happen?? I mean that is...wow...i cant even describe how stupid i think that is! How does that happen?? I reallllly wish Mr King himself knew this....as is incredibly disappointing to find out how a book ends before you even read a word, because the author gives it away in the opening section on the importance of being Bachman.

Wont stop me from reading aany King novels, nor knock him from the throne of my favorite authors, but WOW what a stupid stupid thing to do! (Haha..it WILL,however, prevent me from ever reading any sort of opening thoughts or whatever written at beginning of any further King books i will read.

[GNTLGNT]

So...let me get this right...you thought it was stupid?...OK we GOT that in spades...but considering the age of this story, it amazes me it wasn't "ruined" for you some other way...sh** happens...move on....

[champ1966]

Surely its illegal to use the word King and stupid in the same sentence.

[J.T. Adams]

In 'On Writing' Sai King suggest the notion that people who whine about spoilers are usually spoiled.

Of course, then it hit home that he was talking about me too and he was exactly right.

[Spideyman]

Have you never seen a movie or TV show where the audience is told the ending prior to the story plot?

[bobledrew]

Dude. The movie's 25 years old; the book 30. I got some other bad news for you: Lennie kills George in Of Mice and Men, and Romeo & Juliet don't make it.

[sam peebles]

This seems like a valid complaint to me. I don't care how old a book is--I don't care if it's Bill-freakin'-Shakespeare--the ending of the book should never be revealed in the introduction, foreward, preface, etc. It should be common sense that a large percentage of the readers will be coming into the story for the first time. If a note by an author does contain spoilers, why not put it in at the end of the book?

[fushingfeef]

The context of that introduction, you have to realize, is that it was actually the 2nd introduction written for the collected Bachman works. So, this really makes it the 3rd time around for those stories, at the very least--so I don't think King was thinking he was spoiling anything at that point.

[GNTLGNT]

Dude. The movie's 25 years old; the book 30. I got some other bad news for you: Lennie kills George in Of Mice and Men, and Romeo & Juliet don't make it.

....I think Moby Dick made it and the Lord Of the Flies really ISN'T a fly.....

[CarrieJo]

I understand what you're saying, pjmorin, but what about the REST of the story? Yeah I get a little miffed when I hear how a book ends, but if that's all you're reading for than you are sincerely missing out. Sincerely.