Stationary Bike

When commercial artist Richard Sifkitz finally gets around to having that physical he'd been putting off for years, and his cholesterol comes back dangerously high, he does what so many thirty-something, junk food-eating couch potatoes have done before him: he buys a stationary bike, and vows to ride it regularly. But it turns out that Richard's mural is no ordinary picture -- and soon his stationary bike is taking him places he doesn't want to go and can't stay away from. A lot. A riveting riff on artistic frustration, midlife mortality, and hard-won redemption, Stationary Bike is a thrill ride that could come only from the mind of Stephen King.. Unlike many a mid-life exercise convert, however, Richard actually starts to ride his new stationary bike. Soon he's spending so much time on his bike that he decides to put his artistic talents to use and paint a mural on t

This novella was published in the anthology Borderlands 5(Reviews, Jan. 19, 2004). From Publishers Weekly In classic Stephen King tradition, this audiobook reminds the listener that even something as ordinary as a stationary bike can have a devious nature to it. Ron McLarty, who previously recorded King's Salem's Lot and Faithful, delivers this novella with an excellent pace and easy disposition. . His controlled reading creates a much tenser atmosphere with surprises and plot twists made more shocking without the advance warnings of a more dramatic reading. King's writing style is quite agreeable to the audio format, making for an enjoyable although slightly dark tale. After a tongue thrashing from his doctor, Richard

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. . His recent novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Prize. McLarty is also a novelist and an award-winning playwright. He lives in Bangor, Maine, w

"Five Stars" according to Amazon Customer. It was excellent. Not happy darlene j kropp All of Stephen King's books are great but I thought this was to be a new item and it was used and not in very good packaging. After just looking at the discs I see that disc one is fairly scratched. I have not listened to it yet but hope it is clear.. Not one of King's best stories I'm a Stephen King fan, but I was disappointed with this audio book. I've never purchased an audio book before, but this was the only format for this "novel." I'm not sure if I just couldn't really get into the story because I listened to it while I was driving (and, therefore, was too busy concentrating on driving), or because the story itself just wasn't all that interesting. It is a 2-disc set, and the story seemed very short. I am giving the audio book to my brother, who is blind. Maybe he will like it better than I did.