Elevation

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together—a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences.

Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.

In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.

From Stephen King, our “most precious renewable resource, like Shakespeare in the malleability of his work” (The Guardian), Elevation is an antidote to our divisive culture, as gloriously joyful (with a twinge of deep sadness) as “It’s a Wonderful Life.”An Amazon Best Book of November 2018: The first thing to note about Stephen King’s Elevation is that it is a short book—small and short. This being an online store, it is useful to point out that it will not land on your doorstep with the thud of a typical Stephen King novel. The second thing to note is that it is a fun and surprisingly moving read. When we first meet Scott Carey, he is knocking on the door of a doctor’s condo. Carey discloses to the doctor that he is experiencing a unique condition: he is losing weight but not mass. Every day he is a little lighter and no one can tell the difference. When the doctor points out that this is likely not a condition treatable by modern medicine, Carey appears to concur. So if he is possibly running out of time, what’s next? Scott Carey opts to conduct his life with honor and conviction, and to make the world a better place. Set in King’s fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, the book has very little of the classic King darkness—and it has the feel of a parable. The lesson is that we might actually all be able to get along. Could it be as easy as giving up a little bit of ourselves each day? –Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review