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    Gwendy's Button Box: Includes bonus story "The Music Room"
    Gwendy's Button Box: Includes bonus story "The Music Room"
    Gwendy's Button Box: Includes bonus story "The Music Room"
    Audiobook2 hours

    Gwendy's Button Box: Includes bonus story "The Music Room"

    Written by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

    Narrated by Maggie Siff

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine

    Stephen King teams up with long-time friend and award-winning author Richard Chizmar for the first time in this original, chilling novella that revisits the mysterious town of Castle Rock.

    There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974, twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong—if time-rusted—iron bolts and zig-zag up the precarious cliffside.

    Then one day when Gwendy gets to the top of Castle View, after catching her breath and hearing the shouts of kids on the playground below, a stranger calls to her. There on a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small, neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat…

    The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told—until now.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMay 16, 2017
    ISBN9781508242055
    Gwendy's Button Box: Includes bonus story "The Music Room"
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His 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 Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for Gwendy's Button Box

    4.5/5

    528 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Pure King! King tackles morality in a way only King can.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Another amazing King novella. This story seemed soft at times yet was captivating.
      In the end, it was sinister yet humanistic.
      A phenomenal collaboration and a truly enjoyable quick read.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Enjoyed the book not scary but makes you think about life choices

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      It felt rushed, despite so much untapped potential and intrigue, having hundreds of pages left unwritten.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      What a fantastic little story! One day after a run (she's trying to lose weight and doing a bang up job of it) 12 year-old Gwendy meets a mysterious man named Richard Ferris who hands her an equally mysterious box to hold on to. Constant readers of King's other works know that mystery men with the initials "R" and "F" are usually one character that pops up using different names - Randall Flagg, Richard Fannin, etc,. The box is covered with colored buttons, along with two levers on the sides. But this is no ordinary button box; it has a power that Gwendy can feel, and is instantly drawn to. A great coming of age tale with a delicious side of the supernatural. The narration by Sons Of Anarchy actress Maggie Siff is spot on!
    • 5/5
      A beautiful collaboration. Can’t wait to read the next book in the trilogy.
    • 4/5
      Ⓐⓤⓓⓘⓞⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ

      "??????'? ?????? ???" + "??? ????? ????"
      ??: Stephen King & @richard_chizmar
      ????????: Maggie Siff
      ?????: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction
      ?????????: @simonschusteraudio
      ????????? ??: May 16th 2017
      @????????? ?????: 3.91
      ?? ?????: ???? / 5 Buttons

      Ⓢⓨⓝⓞⓟⓢⓘⓢ

      There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.

      One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me."
      On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat...

      Ⓜⓨ Ⓣⓗⓞⓤⓖⓗⓣⓢ

      We've taken a journey back to Castle Rock again in this chilling novella by the King of horror and award-winning author Richard Chizmar.

      What would you do if you had a button box? One that called you to use it? One that could do good and horrible evil things? One button for every continent, one button for the world, and a red button for your imagination to use. Give you what you wanted, needed or longed for. Would you be careful how you used the power? Or would it be everyone for themselves?

      I really enjoyed this clever novella by these two authors and I'm excited that a 3rd final book will be out this month! I still have to read the 2nd one but I just have a good feeling about the whole thing in general that it'll be great because it's very rare do I not love anything Stephen King writes.

      I also thought the short story of "??? ????? ????" by just Stephen King was very eerie and clever as well. I also felt a little humor with it too.
    • 4/5
      pretty good audiobook. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Steven King
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the intrigue of the “button box”, however left me feeling a bit empty over its purpose - other than speculation. Red button? Not a problem, loud and clear on that one! Story moves very fast and even though the box is a bit vague (ramifications of buttons) how much can really be fit into a appetizer novella? I’ll be reading the next in the trilogy.
    • 4/5
      I haven't read a Stephen King book in YEARS but while looking for something short and different I stumbled on this collaboration. I really liked it. For me I heard the message of everything in moderation being taught during the teenage years. Maybe that's what it is, maybe not. ?
    • 4/5
      Gwendy’s Button Box, Stephen King, Maggie Siff, narrator When Gwendy, (combo of Wendy and Gwendolyn) is 12 years old, she is taunted at school about her weight and called “Goodyear” by a nasty boy at school. She decides to slim down and exercises running up and down suicide stairs, in Castle Rock, Maine. One day, an odd man with a small black hat who has been sitting on a bench close by for days, without speaking to her, suddenly calls out to her. After a brief conversation, he presents her with a gift, she really cannot refuse. It is a beautiful box for which she is now responsible. It has several buttons and levers. One lever provides a small beautiful animal made out of a delicious chocolate, no bigger than a jelly bean. What does this chocolate do for Gwendy? The other lever dispenses rare silver coins. There is a red button which grants wishes and a black button she is warned never to touch. There are seven buttons representing the continents of the world.How the box changes her life is the subject of the story. It is entertaining and read well by the narrator. Her character is developed clearly as is the character of the man with the black hat, Mr. Ferris. Over the next decade, we share Gwendy’s life. Will Mr. Ferris ever return, or will Gwendy bear the burden of the box forever? Is the box good or evil? Why was Gwendy picked to watch over it?The Music Room, Stephen king, author; Maggie Siff, narratorIt is around the time of the Great Depression. People are starving and suffering. The Enderbys, a childless couple, have devised a diabolical way to make it through these difficult times. In their home there is a sound proof closet in which they have placed various guests. What happens to those guests is revealed as the short story plays out. Are they murderers or thieves? I didn’t find this story plausible by any stretch of the imagination.