Misery

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For other uses, see Misery (disambiguation).

Misery is a novel by Stephen King, published in 1987.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story begins with Paul Sheldon slowly waking out of a coma. Gradually, his memory returns to him: he is a wildly popular romance novelist of the Misery series of novels (the main character of which is named Misery Chastain) who has crashed his car in a winter storm outside of Silver Creek in Grand County, Colorado, and has been badly injured. His rescuer, Annie Wilkes, is a former registered nurse and has taken him to her secluded country home to personally care for him.

As luck would have it, Annie is Paul's "number one fan" and eagerly awaited all his publications. Almost immediately however, Paul realizes that there is a flip side to this coin: Annie is mentally ill, she has not told anyone where he is, and she has a violent past that includes a successful career as a serial killer.

Annie begins to physically and psychologically abuse Paul when she finishes reading his latest published work, in which the heroine Misery dies. Annie later forces him to burn an unpublished manuscript of his new novel, "Fast Cars" he was carrying at the time of his accident, disgusted at its radical departure from the Misery series. Eventually, Annie forces Paul to write a new Misery novel "just for her" and bring the character back from the dead. Paul works on the book as Annie's violent mood swings and her psychosis deepen. Her insanity escalates as Paul tries to escape; she eventually chops off one of Paul's feet, one of his thumbs, and murders a police officer investigating his disappearance. As the authorities begin to close in on Annie, Paul's plight--both in his writing and his attempt to save his life--becomes more desperate.

1 Facts about the book
2 Movie
3 ISBNs
4 External links

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Facts about the book

Misery does not deal with supernatural demons or ghosts, but with the darkness inherent in the human mind. The story revolves around only two characters and the closed environment of Annie's house.

Misery is one of many King novels set in Colorado.

The book contains an inside reference to an earlier King novel, The Shining naming 'The Overlook Hotel' in which the book is set.

In the book, Annie chops one of Paul's feet off from the ankle. In the movie, she breaks the ankle with a hammer.

King has stated that he intended for Misery to be the next Richard Bachman novel, following Thinner.

Some paperback versions of the book have a "mock" cover inside the front cover. It is done in the style of a typical romance novel book cover, portraying a man and a woman in a romantic pose. It bears the title "Misery's Return" (the title of the book Paul is forced to write). The man is easily recognizable as Stephen King.

In On Writing, King stated that he realized that the situation of the novel was a metaphor for the drug addiction he was suffering from at the time.

William Goldman adopted the novel into the screenplay for a 1990 American film of the same name, directed by Rob Reiner. James Caan and Kathy Bates star as Paul and Annie, respectively. Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, and Frances Sternhagen are the only major supporting actors. The film was a critical and commercial success, making $61,276,872 (USA) domestically on a $20,000,000 budget. Kathy Bates won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.

Annie Wilkes was voted the 17th greatest villain of all-time by the American Film Institute in their special feature AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, and Bravo! named the film the 12th scariest of all time.

The book tied with the Robert R. McCammon novel Swan Song for the first Bram Stoker Award for best novel.

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Movie

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Image:Misery-annie.jpg The movie was made in 1990.

When Paul Sheldon is injured in a car accident, he is taken in by Annie Wilkes. His legs are injured and he cannot walk. At first, Annie, who says she is a nurse, seems to have Paul's best interests in mind. She brings him painkillers, feeds him, and rants on and on about how she is 'his number one fan'. but it soon becomes clear that Annie is mentally ill. After getting Paul's permission to read his current, unpublished (and non-Misery) manuscript, she fails to appreciate the quality of the writing, as she prefers the mass-market pulp of the Misery series.

During this time, the latest Misery book comes out (Misery's Child), and Annie eagerly dives in, not knowing that this book (and the entire series) will end with Misery's death. After screaming at Paul, she brings him his unpublished manuscript, and a box of matches. She forces him to burn his book.

The next day, she brings him a typewriter and typing paper, and tells him he must fix the book and bring Misery back. He sees a pin on the floor and tells Annie he can't type on this paper because it smears. She angrily goes back to town to get him new paper. He gets the pin, and uses it to pick the lock on the door. However, this doesn't help, since it seems hopeless to get out. So he begins working on the book.

Image:Paulsheldon.jpg Later on, he escapes again, and finds a scrapbook that has incriminating evidence that Annie was a convicted serial killer. He goes back to his room, only to wake up in the night, just in time for Annie to inject him with a liquid that knocks him out. When he wakes up next, she has tied him to the bed, and informs him that she knows he has been out of his room. She then proceeds to break his feet so he can't escape again. Meanwhile, while many people have assumed that Paul is dead, a local law enforcement officer, thinks that he is still alive, and through various clues, tracks down Annie. Annie sees him coming and knocks out Paul, dragging him to a room. After searching for a bit, the officer finds him, only to be shot by Annie a few seconds later.

Annie then tells Paul that she loves him and that they must die together. Paul sees some lighter fluid on the floor next to him, and gets Annie to agree to let him finish the book first. She goes to get his wheelchair, and Paul stuffs the bottle of fluid down his pants. After he finishes his book, he gets Annie to bring him a cigarette, a match, a glass, and a bottle of champagne. He then tells her she needs to get two glasses. While she is gone, Paul pours fluid all over the manuscript and lights the match. When Annie comes back, he lights the book on fire, sending Annie over the edge. After a bloody fight, Paul manages to kill Annie. 18 months later, Paul has been found, and his new book is popular. Paul admits that he sometimes still sees Annie. The movie ends with a waitress telling Paul that she is "his number one fan".

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