TCCDM Dig & Flip: Needful Things - Stephen King (1991)
Needful Things
by Stephen King
(1991)
Hardcover, 690 pages
NO SPOILERS:
In this tale, a new but rather inconspicuous knick-knack shop called Needful Things opens on the main street of small-town Castle Rock. Of course, the familiar small-town buzz from small-town mouths quickly work the news around the neighborhood, and slowly but surely, a trickle of customers begin to drop by. To just have a look-see.
The story features a wonderfully wicked, off-putting character: Leland Gaunt, the proprietor of this new establishment. A place where it's all about striking a fair deal for all involved. But oh, the tangled webs that are woven. The construction of this story is a delicious fustercluck, and when all the i's are dotted, and the t's are crossed...Holy Schniekes! We all know the damage is coming, but it's the special way Stephen King bakes the biscuits that keeps us at the breakfast table. Without a doubt, the master storyteller. Throwing more louies and ducks, dodges and strikes than Dock Ellis on a Woodstock pitcher's mound. Here Needful Things earns its entertainment dollars.
However, be forewarned, there are a large cast of characters, and I mean a bunch of'em in the pages of Needful Things, but most are described with such definitive shades and textures that it's pretty easy to keep up with them. And unless you're juggling a couple of books at once, you should have little problem. Yes, there are a few Easter eggs for the Constant Reader to gather up into their basket.
"I Need You" - America / "America" (1971)
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