Containing the novellas Mr. Harrigan's Phone, The Life of Chuck, If It Bleeds, and Rat.
Of the four novellas in this collection, my favorites are If It Bleeds and Mr. Harrigan's Phone. In Mr. Harrigan's Phone, we're told "A reader is a carrier, not a creator," which is true-- and I've been carrying around an appreciation of Holly Gibney ever since reading Mr. Mercedes, so it was a pleasure to see her in action once again.
Mr. Harrigan's Phone is a spooky little number that made me smile, and if you like finding out how an author gets his ideas for the stories he writes, don't miss the Afterward.
All in all, If It Bleeds is an enjoyable ramble through the mind of Stephen King.
Another great collection of shorter fiction from Stephen King. I have somewhat neglected reading King's short story collections but two of his collections, DIFFERENT SEASONS and FULL DARK, NO STARS contain some of his best writing IMO. These two collections both contain four novellas which I enjoyed as much as some of his best novels, if not more so.
IF IT BLEEDS also contains four novellas and again these were all great. The longest, the titular "If It Bleeds" is almost 200 pages and is a great followup to THE OUTSIDER. It features Holly Gibney (the singular young woman from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider) who is on the trail of another entity who she suspects is involved in the bombing of a school which killed a large group of people including many children. Will Holly be able to survive her encounter with this being?
The other stories run about 100 pages each and all are very thought-provoking and clever. The first, "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" is about a young boy who does chores for a wealthy older man named Harrigan who has made a fortune on the stock market. Harrigan is not into the onset of technology such as computers and cell phones, but the boy convinces him to try out a new Iphone and of course he is amazed at what it can do while accessing the internet. When Harrigan dies, the boy slips the phone into his casket which leads to some unexpected results.
"The Life of Chuck" was probably the most clever of the stories about a man on the verge of death. The story is told in three parts and in reverse order. The first part is rather bizarre but also very unique in a sci-fi sort of way and it makes one think about everything contained in your memory and what happens to it when you die.
The final story, "Rat" is about a writer who goes to a remote cabin in Maine to try and write a novel. He has failed at this a few times before even though he has published some short stories in magazines including one in The New Yorker. So will he be able to complete his novel this time? He just might after he encounters a rat that he makes a deal with.
All of these stories were King at his best. I think one of the common threads that ran through these was old-age and dying. And of course the prevalent evil of mankind is nearly always present when you read King. Lessons learned: Don't bury a cell phone with a loved one who passes on; beware of news reporters who always report on tragedies; and don't take advice from a rat!
