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The Life of Chuck

Now a major film

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The Life of Chuck

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Danny Burstein
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About this listen

 STREAMING ON NETFLIX FROM JANUARY 2025: Stephen King's 'The Life of Chuck' is a 'phenomenal' (USA Today) tale of life and legacy - and now a feature film directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Karen Gillan. Available in a beautiful standalone edition in hardback.

Originally featured in the acclaimed story collection If It Bleeds, this unforgettable, mind-bending tale unfolds in reverse, taking readers through the extraordinary life of Charles 'Chuck' Krantz.

In a crumbling world plagued by natural disasters, collapsing infrastructure, and mass panic, bizarre billboards and advertisements appear throughout town: 'Charles Krantz. Thirty-nine great years. Thanks, Chuck!' Marty Anderson, a schoolteacher, becomes obsessed with these messages as the world, inexplicably linked to Chuck's life, seems to be approaching its end.

Told in three acts, presented in reverse order, The Life of Chuck explores one man's past. We see him in middle age on a business trip in Boston as he is seduced by a busker into spinning a gorgeous sidewalk dance. And we see him as a child, in a house haunted by a terrible secret, learning to dance with his grandmother. In these pages King reminds us that life's quotidian pleasures are even more glorious because they are fleeting: the outrageous good fortune of a beautiful blue day after a string of gray ones; the delight of dancing when every move feels perfect; a serendipitous meeting. King's ability to describe pure joy rivals his ability to terrify us.

Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award, The Life of Chuck is a glorious story about community and about humanity at its best, a celebration of joy, mystery, existential wonder, and the multitudes contained in all of us.©2025 Stephen King Anthologies & Short Stories Friendship Genre Fiction Short Stories Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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So much to enjoy every time I listen to it there is something new… outstanding!

Fantastic!!

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Ok, yeah it is a short story and I had already listened to it in Kings “If it Bleeds” collected compilations. I like the story, but I expected that when it had been re released in a stand alone audiobook it would have been expanded a little more and developed in to a longer novel. But it wasn’t. A short 2 hour story. Not worth a full credit, you’re better spending your money on the collected stories and if you have already listened to it then don’t waste your time, it’s the same.

Not worth a full credit.

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Beautiful short story, listen so easily, understandable it's just short of three hours but I didn't want to stop listening.

Joyful listening

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A fascinating journey into the philosophy of mind and what, who and how we exist, in the multitude.

Insightful writing

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I always loved King's storytelling and this didn't disappoint. His characters are always real and somehow familiar enough to be someone you have known, if only a little.

Reliably entertaining

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