All in Hardcover

Our Town – Thornton Wilder

Expectation: Honestly, I had no idea what to expect having somehow missed all productions and required readings of this classic play for more than 40 years.

Reality: It’s easy to interpret Wilder’s words as cursory but that’s a lazy examination of the masterful story he told here.

Night Shift – Stephen King

Reading this collection was a damn delight and a nostalgic serotonin boost that transported me back to high school when I devoured my first classic King novels in mass market paperbacks.  As my mini-reviews show, this was a mostly solid top-to-bottom collection that got better as the stories progressed. It showcased King at the top of his game - observant, reflective, emotional and downright scary.


Just After Sunset – Stephen King

Expectation: A scattershot collection of stories from King’s uneven period of the mid-aughts.

Reality: A completely passable and often entertaining collection that bring forward some classic, and previously unpublished stories, and set the groundwork for some of his later works.