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Stephen King
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Needful Things: The Last Castle Rock Story Hardcover – October 1, 1991

by Stephen King (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 8,161 ratings
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Leland Gaunt probes the limits of people's desires when he moves to Castle Rock, Maine--opens his shop, Needful Things--and sets a high price on love, hope, and the human soul
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  1. Print length
    690 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Viking
  4. Publication date
    October 1, 1991
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 2.25 x 9.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0670839531
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0670839537
  8. See all details
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  1. Everyone loves something for nothing . . . even if it costs everything.
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  2. At fifty-one you had to keep running just to escape the avalanche of your own past.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With the "Last Castle Rock Story" King bids a magnificent farewell to the fictional Maine town where much of his previous work has been set. Of grand proportion, the novel ranks with King's best, in both plot and characterization. A new store, Needful Things, opens in town, and its proprietor, Leland Gaunt, offers seemingly unbeatable (read: Faustian) bargains to Castle Rock's troubled citizens. Among them are Polly Chalmers, lonely seamstress whose arthritis is only one of the physical and psychic pains she must bear; Brian Rusk, the 11-year-old boy whose mother is not precisely attentive; and Alan Pangborn, the new sheriff whose wife and son have recently died. These are only three of the half-dozen or so brilliantly drawn people met in the novel's one-month time span. As the dreams of each strikingly memorable character, major and minor, inexorably turn to nightmare, individuals and soon the community are overwhelmed, while the precise nature of Gaunt's evil thrillingly stays just out of focus. King, like Leland Gaunt, knows just what his customers want. 1.5 million first printing; BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The old horrormaster in top form, this time with a demonic dealer in magic and spells selling his wares to the folks of Castle Rock, scene of several King novels including The Dead Zone, Cujo--and how many others? King locates his hokey Our Town in Maine, but as ever it's really Consumerville, USA, with everyone's life festooned with brand names. The cast is huge and largely grotesque, since King--wearing a tremendous cat's-smile--means to close the book on Castle Rock and blow it off the map in one of his best climaxes since Salem's Lot. Editing here is supreme. King braids perhaps a dozen storylines--with hardly a drop of blood spilled for the first 250 or so pages--into ever briefer takes that climax in a hurtling, storm-ripped holocaust whose symphonic energies fill the novel's last third. Perhaps only five characters stand out: Leland Gaunt, a gentlemanly stranger who opens the Needful Things curiosity shop; his first customer, Brian Rusk, 11, who sells his soul for a rare Sandy Koufax baseball card; practical Polly Chalmers, who runs the You Sew `n' Sew shop, welcomes Gaunt with a devil's-food cake, and buys an amulet to relieve her arthritis; her lover, Sheriff Alan Pangborn, who buys nothing but is haunted by the driving deaths of his wife and son; and Ace Merrill, coke dealer in a bind, who becomes Gaunt's handydevil and gets to drive Gaunt's Tucker, a car that's faster than radar and uses no gas. As he has for hundreds of years, Gaunt sells citizens whatever pricks and satisfies their inmost desires. But the price dehumanizes them, and soon all the townsfolk vent their barest aggressions on each other with cleaver, knife, and gun: Gaunt even opens a sideline of automatic weapons. By novel's end, the whole town is on a hysterical, psychotic mass rampage that floods morgue and hospital with the delimbed and obliterated. Then comes the big bang. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Leland King's glee, or Steven Gaunt's, or rather--well, the author's--as he rubs his palms over his let's-blow-'em-away superclimax is wonderfully catching. (Book-of-the-Month Main Selection for Fall) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking; First Edition (October 1, 1991)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 690 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0670839531
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0670839537
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 2.25 x 9.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 8,161 ratings

About the author

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Stephen King

Stephen King

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Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, MR MERCEDES, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both MR MERCEDES and END OF WATCH received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively.

King co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game and It.

King was the recipient of America's prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
8,161 global ratings
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I’m starting a collection to form a library of all sorts of books and wanted the 1st editions. It is absolutely amazing and looks beautiful. I’m a sucker for appealing cover art and this one is just fantastic. It’s crisp and looks like it has barely been used.
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Top reviews from the United States

Andrew D. Rodney
5.0 out of 5 stars Another amazing book by the King
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2021
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This is the 39th book of King's this constant reader has read and I'd put this one up towards the top 10 thus far. The book has everything I love in a King book: amazing and detailed characters, some great scenes, dialog, it can be very funny and disturbing. It is a long book but never, never boring (that isn't to say some of his books, a few, lag and I'm happy to move on). Like all artists, not every work is as strong as others, King hasn't written a book I didn't enjoy but a few were less successful than others. This one was outstanding. There are many dozens of characters large and small that are so well fleshed out. There are multiple protagonists and one outright scary bad guy and yet, with such superb writing, I felt both sympathy and loathing for them. There's no reason to give away the plot, you want to know if I enjoyed and recommend this book: YES! Some complain about the ending (par for the course with some King reviewers); I had no issues with the conclusion and the last 10% of the book is riveting and a page turner. If you have never read any of Kings books, this one while not as well know as many is certainly a good start for you. If you're a constant reader as I am, you do want this on your list of books to read. The book is funny, sad, action packed, brings old characters from other Kings universe into Castle Rock, it is creepy and it is a great read.
Bravo Mr. King, bravo.
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Travis Brashear
4.0 out of 5 stars A chilling novel about the dangers of acquisition...you should buy it now!
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2013
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Finally finished reading Stephen King's NEEDFUL THINGS, which has probably been the most consistently enjoyable book of my recent return to King's canon. A sprawling book, with dozens of major characters, the parochial, "OUR TOWN circa 1991" setting nevertheless makes everything feel very intimate and quaint...at least until proprietor Leland Gaunt quietly arrives in town and sets up a shop that accepts all forms of payment--cash, checks, credit cards...even souls--and sets off a chain of events that turns smalltown America into a self-contained Armageddon. All the things you love about Stephen King are on full display here--the bellylaugh-eliciting turns-of-phrase; the powerfully textured and nuanced evocations of places, peoples and time; the deeply chilling, nauseating horror; the wicked, bitter, coldly accurate observations of human nature and, minor qualms about some rocky canting back-and-forth between audience-winking broad humor and some really dark, brutally serious commentary aside, King's voice holds consistently throughout the entire narrative (which is more than I can say about the "what the hell?" jumping of the rails that happened during the last 100 pages of IT). That is not to say this book is one of King's all-time classics (it isn't, though it's far from the bottom of the pile), or that it doesn't have its failings (it does), but it's still a dynamite [pauses while former readers of the book wince] read! Ultimately, I only have two major complaints and two minor ones; in the category of the latter, there are the aforementioned schizophrenic tonal shifts, as well as a great amount of repetition in the plotting. There's a good defense for it but, nevertheless, after the umpteenth citizen of Castle Rock is primed by Mr. Gaunt for a destructive task, a sense of "all right, Stevie-boy, we know what Gaunt's up to and how he goes about it--we get it already!" weariness begins to set in with the reader. In terms of more substantial complaints, we spend far too little time with the true main characters at the heart of the story, Sheriff Alan Pangborn (of the earlier book THE DARK HALF) and Polly Chalmers. King is too interested in spending dozens of pages tightening the myriad strings tied to dozens of lives into a vile knot that he doesn't seem to realize that the reader spends much of his/her time frustrated, wondering what's happening in the lives of the two characters we care about most. Secondly, there is some harsh and worthwhile commentary about the nature of Man and His unceasing capacity to confuse want with need and to turn a blind eye to the blessings all around him to focus on bright baubles that can never love us back--the whole "the things you own end up owning you" FIGHT CLUB mantra--that is undermined by a trick, a type of hypnosis, or brainwashing, performed on his victims by Leland Gaunt. It's a bit of a Catch-22 in that none of the goings-on in NEEDFUL THINGS would seem believable for a minute if Gaunt didn't perform this mental sleight-of-hand but, when it becomes a necessary device to put all the chess pieces together in service of his plot, it actually waters down King's intended commentary. In simpler language, if people can't do the horrible things they do in this story without some supernatural prompting of which they're not fully conscious taking place, then Man surely isn't as bleak at heart as King wishes to make a case for. This sort of trickery, this conniving stacking-of-the-deck, serves the character of Leland Gaunt well, but the message of the story not at all. As with most narrative failings in King's books, they don't damage the tale irreparably, but they do prevent the book from really taking off and reaching its full potential. A final note to interested readers--you owe it to yourself to read THE DEAD ZONE, CUJO, "The Body" (novella in DIFFERENT SEASONS), THE DARK HALF and FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT before reading this book. It is the conclusion of a town's sad saga, and should not be your starting point for seeing if there's something nice to eat (or even better, a nice forgotten, but well-tended, collectible for sale) at the little dot on your map marked Castle Rock while you tour the great state of Maine. Now, I'm off to the first short story collection of King's I've read in years, NIGHTMARES AND DREAMSCAPES...
15 people found this helpful
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Michael
5.0 out of 5 stars great read
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
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Really enjoyed this. Easy to get swept up in the story. The writing painted a full story in my mind as I read.
2 people found this helpful
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Denise D. Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars Needful Things
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2023
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Confession time, this is the second time reading this book and both times I read the story quickly. The first time was when the book was first released.The last 350 pages go by in the blink of an eye! One more confession, I also watched the movie. Movie was good but for very obvious reasons it did not follow the book! The book goes into some very graphic detail and there are a couple trigger segments in the book. Children dying and suicide. So please be warned. If you are a Stephen King fan this is a must read. Now off to read “Salem’s Lot”
7 people found this helpful
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Efren Cantu
5.0 out of 5 stars Literally Brand New
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2023
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I’m starting a collection to form a library of all sorts of books and wanted the 1st editions. It is absolutely amazing and looks beautiful. I’m a sucker for appealing cover art and this one is just fantastic. It’s crisp and looks like it has barely been used.
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Efren Cantu
5.0 out of 5 stars Literally Brand New
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2023
I’m starting a collection to form a library of all sorts of books and wanted the 1st editions. It is absolutely amazing and looks beautiful. I’m a sucker for appealing cover art and this one is just fantastic. It’s crisp and looks like it has barely been used.
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2 people found this helpful
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Luis
3.0 out of 5 stars Ambicioso, pero ultimadamente insatisfactorio.
Reviewed in Mexico on September 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
Es un libro bastante extenso que consigue hacer de su misterio una experiencia bastante entretenida hasta que deja de serlo.
Considerando que su climax con los protagonistas transcurre en las últimas 15 páginas y que este queda muy lejos de lo que el relato venia planteando si queda un sentimiento de decepción. Es Stephen King después de todo y sus libros están llenos de altibajos. Pero creo que si vale la pena agregarlo a la colección.

El producto llegó en perfecto estado. Ese golpe que se aprecia en la esquina superior de la imagen fue por mi descuido.
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Luis
3.0 out of 5 stars Ambicioso, pero ultimadamente insatisfactorio.
Reviewed in Mexico on September 11, 2023
Es un libro bastante extenso que consigue hacer de su misterio una experiencia bastante entretenida hasta que deja de serlo.
Considerando que su climax con los protagonistas transcurre en las últimas 15 páginas y que este queda muy lejos de lo que el relato venia planteando si queda un sentimiento de decepción. Es Stephen King después de todo y sus libros están llenos de altibajos. Pero creo que si vale la pena agregarlo a la colección.

El producto llegó en perfecto estado. Ese golpe que se aprecia en la esquina superior de la imagen fue por mi descuido.
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Rosamund S.
5.0 out of 5 stars When the Devil becomes a salesman?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2024
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This is an extremely interesting and thought provoking book. Not the usual King style, in my opinion, but fairly great nonetheless. The first half of the narrative drags on a little too long, and the book itself is nearly 900 pages long, with the real actions happening in the second half. The narrative delves into a detailed exploration of each character, so be prepared to spend some time reading some time on long, drawn-out character studies. Yet the denouement is worth it. Rather than being the typical horror, it reveals the horrors nestled inside the human souls. How unbridled desires cause us to commit sins. Wrath, lust, envy, pride, they’re all there. So come in, to the shop of trickery and lies, pick your heart’s desire, but at a price you can only afford to pay with your soul.
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Kati
5.0 out of 5 stars Immer noch ein guter Klassiker des Meisters
Reviewed in Germany on October 19, 2023
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Die Entwicklung der Ereignisse in der kleinen Stadt nehmen einen immer noch gefangen, obwohl das Buch nun schon in die Jahre gekommen ist.
Was bringt Menschen dazu böse zu werden, warum überschreiten sie Grenzen, war das Böse nicht schon immer da? All diese Fragen schafft es Stepehn King meisterhaft zu beantworten.
Und auch wenn die Überstzung wirklich gut ist, empfehle ich doch das Original zu lesen.
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Mona sarah
5.0 out of 5 stars Spine
Reviewed in India on September 2, 2020
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Can I just say that the spine is well built and I can use it like a hardcover... Haha
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Mona sarah
5.0 out of 5 stars Spine
Reviewed in India on September 2, 2020
Can I just say that the spine is well built and I can use it like a hardcover... Haha
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Client Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Just great!!
Reviewed in France on May 14, 2020
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One of the best from my point of view. Just fantastic. Amazing characters. Amazing story. Never boring that is for sure.
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