Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: LT's Theory of Pets by Stephen King ISBN: 0-7435-2004-1 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.98 (41 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Great King stuff, well read by the author
Comment: As with most of the best of King, I laughed and I shivered. A great little story told very well by King at a live reading in England. The sound quality is very good, and the audience laughs at all the right places. If you are not familiar with King and his writing style, you may feel a bit confused or let down at the end of the story, but remember that King's genius lies greatly in the subtle bits. He's not the Jerry Bruckheimer of horror, that's for sure. And a good thing he's not!
Rating: 4
Summary: delicious, but short...
Comment: Stephen King is, of course, one of today's most prolific novelists. With over 30 books to his name, he has also published stories electronically, in serial installments, written for telivision and with "L.T.'s Theory of Pets", published this audio-only short story.
King himself reads the story, and for those who are familiar with his reading his own material like "Needful Things" or "Hearts in Atlantis", his Maine accent is as comfortable as a down comforter. At the beginning of the CD he reminds us, in his dry, Maine wit, that we are, after all, "all going to die someday," and then cautions the audience by asking them to remember if they left the shower curtain open or closed. Nervous laughter is heard from the live audience.
The story, read live at London's Royal Festival Hall, concerns a man named L.T. who is fond of telling the strange story of how his wife left him, concluding with his theory of pets. It seems that L.T. and his now estranged wife have bought each other pets that turned out to be totally incompatable with the intended owner.
In a kind of macabre variation on "Gift of the Maji", L.T. buys his wife a cat as a present, but the animal despises it's new owner with a passion, instead lavishing attention on L.T. In a similar fit of pique, his wife buys L.T. a jack russell terrier that takes an immediate dislike to L.T., even though it's supposed to be his dog. Though L.T., telling his story to his work buddies during lunch break, injects lots of humor into his story, the reader (technically, LISTENER in this case) begins to see that the animals represent the humans and all the flaws in their relationship.
As an author, sometimes King's short stories and novellas draw a reader in deeper than any of his 1,000+ page opuses. Though the story lacks the in-your-face, monsters-leaping-out-to-eat-your-face-off horror elements often associated with King, the story draws the reader in because of it's easy, conversational tone--you can just see L.T. sitting there, casually spooling out his tale-- and the way it keeps you psychologically tense for it's ending.
King is a masterful reader, never stumbling over any of his words or becoming even momentarily tongue-tied, and countrified-Mainer character, L.T., simply comes to life in the imagination of the listener, King-style: ""When a person gets up in the morning he doesn't have the slightest idea how much may have changed in his life by the time he lays his head down again that night. 'Ye know not the hour or the day,' the Bible says. I believe that particular verse is about dying, but it fits everything else, boys, everything else in the world. You just never know when you're gonna bust a fiddle string."
For the Constant Reader (King's term for his die-hard fans), "L.T.'s Theory of Pets" is a definite must-read. My only complaint with the CD comes not from any lack on the part of Mr. King, but on behalf of the publishers. At the beginning of the CD King makes reference to a question & answer period to follow after the reading of the story. This is completely left off the CD, which is sin of the highest degree. Despite numerous websites dedicated to his writing, books published about the man and his work (anyone read "The Stephen King Universe"??) Mr. King is a very private man. Rarely does he grant interviews or talk openly about his writing or his writing process. For a publisher, then, to NOT publish one of the very rare, informal Q&A sessions that he DOES grant is a terrible oversight, IMHO. I award Simon & Schuster several brownie points for recording/publishing this story that we would have otherwise missed, but I have to take several points AWAY for not including the entire evening.
Nonetheless, Q&A session or not, the story comes highly recommended from this Constant Reader.
Rating: 5
Summary: Delicious Treat
Comment: Stephen give a reading of his short story before a live audience and I hope he does this again. There was an extra sense of spooky magic on this recording. Perhaps it came from the audience reaction or perhaps it was because King is obviously enjoying himself. The story starts out as quite funny. L.T. is a man who was married---badly to a dizty woman who leaves him and the cat, taking the dog with her. Of course since this is SK the story takes a dark turn. If you were not pleased with Dreamcatcher and you are a SK fan this audio story is a delicious little treat to tide you over until SK gets back on track with his books.
 |
Title: Blood And Smoke Cd by Stephen King ISBN: 0671046179 Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Audio) Pub. Date: 22 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
 |
Title: Everything's Eventual : 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King ISBN: 0743457358 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 30 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The Mist : In 3 D Sound by Stephen King ISBN: 0671874756 Publisher: Audioworks Pub. Date: 01 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: From a Buick 8 : A Novel by Stephen King ISBN: 0743211375 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 24 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
 |
Title: The Man in the Black Suit : 4 Dark Tales by Stephen King, Becky Ann Baker, John Cullum, Peter Gerety, Arliss Howard ISBN: 074352585X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
