Lilja's Library (40 page)

“Autopsy Room Four” was first published in the very limited edition of King’s
Six Stories
back in 1997.
Everything’s Eventual
also contains four of the other five stories from that collection (“Blind Willie” was published, in a slightly altered form, in
Hearts in Atlantis
): “The Man in the Black Suit,” “L.T.’s Theory of Pets,” “Lunch at the Gotham Café” and “Luckey Quarter.” 

You could almost say that
Everything’s Eventual
is a gathering of King’s smaller and stranger collections that have been released in the last few years. You have the already mentioned
Six Stories
,
but you also have the stories from the audio collection
Blood and Smoke
: “Lunch at the Gotham Café” (which was also in
Six Stories
), “In the Deathroom” and “1408.” 

Besides getting these smaller collections together,
Everything’s Eventual
also gathers up most of the stories that King has published in magazines (primarily
The New Yorker
) and other places. You have the recently published “The Death of Jack Hamilton” which tells the story of how gangster Jack Hamilton died. No one knows exactly how he died, but it’s certainly possible that it happened the way King tells it… 

You also find
The Dark Tower
story “The Little Sisters of Eluria” collected here. This is a story that you can read without having read the other
Dark Tower
books. It doesn’t hurt if you have, though, and I’m sure it will play a big role in the big picture later on as the story of Roland unfolds.  

We also get the title story, “Everything’s Eventual.” Personally, I think one of the stronger stories (like “Autopsy Room Four”) should have gotten the honor of naming the collection, but I guess that’s really not that important. This story was supposed to get its first publication on the Stephen King software
F13
. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on what you think about
F13
) the otherwise pretty lame software was delayed and
Fantasy & Science Fiction
got to be the first to publish it, which I personally felt was a blessing. This story is also said to possibly be connected to
The Dark Tower
. 

Another story is “That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French,” which takes the concept of déjà vu to a new height and tells the tale of a traveling couple where the wife gets to relive things over and over again. It really gets you to think one extra time the next time you get that feeling. I have been here before… 

These are the strong stories of
Everything’s Eventual
, even if “L.T.’s Theory of Pets” is better when you hear King read it than it is if you read it yourself. Unfortunately, there are also some not-as-good stories in
Everything’s Eventual
. “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away” was recently published in
The New Yorker
, and when I read it the first time I really hated the fact that I didn’t get to know what happened to Alfie. I felt that King had taken the easy way out of this one. When I read it this time I appreciated it more though. I felt that I could better understand what King was after and that I missed a bit of it the first time I read the story. I’m not entirely as unhappy with the ending as I was, so maybe it’s unfair of me to say that it’s one of the weaker stories in
Everything’s Eventual
, but I’m gonna stick with my first feeling here. I guess that the more you read this story, the more you’re going to appreciate it.  

The last two stories both suffer somewhat from the same problem as “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away”: they both have weak endings. With “The Road Virus Heads North” it feels like King was in a hurry to get the ending done. He starts the build-up of the story in his usual careful way and takes his time. When it gets to the end, though, it feels rushed. “The Road Virus Heads North” is the story that suffers most from this, I think. The encounter at the end of the story almost fades away to nothing. 

The last story is “Riding the Bullet.” Personally, I hope, and think, that the story gets a better chance here, though, than it got when it was first published. “Riding the Bullet” was first published on the Internet and, unfortunately, people were more interested in how many had downloaded it, how much money King had made on it and most importantly, was this the end of the paper book? Not many cared for the story itself, and even though I think it’s a bit weak at the end (I was expecting a more exciting finale), I feel it deserves a second chance, which it gets here.  

None of these three are in any way bad stories. They are just a little bit weaker than the others 

Besides the stories
Everything’s Eventual
offers, it
also contains a short note by King in which he tells us how the stories got their order in the book, which is quite fascinating. Personally, I wish he had told us all the stories he chooses from and why “The Old Dude’s Ticker” didn’t make it into the book.  

The book also contains an introduction called “Practicing the (Almost) Lost Art,” in which King tells us how he feels about the short story and how he thinks it might be a dying art form.  

Before or after every story (depending on if it spoils the story or not) you’ll find short commentaries by King. These are always nice to read—especially the one for “The Little Sisters of Eluria,” where he says that
The Dark Tower V
is done!  

Lilja’s final words about
Everything’s Eventual
 

Even if you have already read most or all of the stories in
Everything’s Eventual
, I think you should get this collection. The stories in it are some of the best King has written, especially “Autopsy Room Four.” All the others are really good stories, and the ones that aren’t are great stories!  

If you haven’t read the stories in
Everything’s Eventual
, then there isn’t much to talk about—go get the book today! You won’t regret it. I personally think that this is King’s most even collection to date.  

**** 

Everything’s Eventual (audio)
 

Posted: April 6, 2002  

When I got
Everything’s Eventual
on audio, the story I looked forward to most was “Autopsy Room Four” since that one is my favorite King short story. Now that I have listened to all five, I still like “Autopsy Room Four” the most, but found myself enjoying the other four tremendously. Far more than I imagined before listening to them. 

All of the stories in this audio collection (except one) are really strong, and that helped this audio in being as enjoyable as it is. The best of the five is “Autopsy Room Four,” read by Oliver Platt. He is perfect for this story and really makes you think about how it would be to end up in the situation that Howard Cottrell finds himself in: flung up on an autopsy table, feeling the cutters at your belly and not being able to move…not a very pleasant feeling. I also really like when he sings like The Rolling Stones, which is worth the money this audio costs alone. It’s really hilarious. 

The first story on the audio is the title story, “Everything’s Eventual,” read by Justin Long. This story is written/read in first-person and Justin really is Dinky, no question about it. I’m not aware of how old Justin is in real life, but here he is perfect as the young computer-killer with a conscience. You really get the feeling that he is telling you something he’s experienced and not just reading from a paper. 

Story number three is “The Little Sisters of Eluria”—the longest story in the collection. “The Little Sisters of Eluria” is narrated by Boyd Gaines, whose performance does not satisfy me one hundred percent. I don’t have much to complain about though. I’m happy with his voice as he reads the story, but he doesn’t sound like I imagine Roland sounds. This isn’t a big problem though (and may only affect me), and after a while you get rather used to his version of Roland, even though it’s not one hundred percent accurate. He does portray the little sisters tremendously well though. 

The fourth story, “The Road Virus Heads North,” is read by Jay O. Sanders. Jay does a good job reading the story, but as I stated in my review of the book, this isn’t one of my favorites. That’s not Jay’s fault though. He does, as I said, do a good job with it and, the fact is, I found myself enjoying it better here than when I read it myself. I’m not sure why, but it’s still the case. 

The last of the stories in this audio edition is “Luckey Quarter,” read by Judith Ivey (last seen in King’s miniseries
Rose Red
). She is the only female reader in this collection, and since the story is told by a female character, I’m really happy that they didn’t choose a man to read this one. Judith, like the others, does a really great job with this story. She really sounds like an old, tired and frustrated hotel maid.  

Lilja’s final words about
Everything’s Eventual (audio)
 

Go out and get the audio edition of
Everything’s Eventual
, put on your headphones and enjoy! 

**** 

Riding the Bullet (audio)
 

Posted: May 30, 2002  

Those of you who have read my review of
Everything’s Eventual
know that “Riding the Bullet” isn’t my favorite short story by King and that I feel it’s a bit weak at the end. Personally, I was expecting a more exciting finale than we get. 

In audio format the ending is still a bit weak, but Josh Hamilton does a great job reading it. His voice is perfect for reading books and he reveals various nuances of the different characters—there isn’t anything worse than when a reader uses the same voice for all of the characters. My favorite voice is his version of George Staub. He really gets that creepy tone in his voice that you would expect from a fellow like Staub when he reads his lines.  

“Riding the Bullet” is the story of Alan Parker, who is hitchhiking from the University of Maine to Lewiston, Maine, where his mother lies in the hospital (the same one that King was in after his accident back in 1999) with a stroke.  

On the way, he gets a ride with a man named George Staub. Fairly quickly, both Alan and we understand that there is something really wrong with Staub—he seems to know a lot about Alan, and as they speed towards Lewiston he forces Alan to make the hardest choice of his life…maybe the last one of his life…depending on his answer.  

The story includes a moral theme: sometimes you have hard choices to make without always knowing which is right. Then, when you have made your choice, you always spend a lot of time wondering if you made the right one…  

Lilja’s final words about
Riding the Bullet (audio)
 

“Riding the Bullet” gets better and better each time I hear/read it. I don’t know if it’s me who is a bit slow to get to the point, but the more I hear/read it the more I appreciate what King is trying to say at the end. I still think it should have a creepier ending, but I’m starting to appreciate the dramatic ending more and more. So, my advice to you is: don’t miss this one! 

**** 

The Wavedancer Benefit (audio)
 

Posted: July 15, 2002  

The Wavedancer Benefit
was an event put together by Stephen King to help his friend, and audiobook reader, Frank Muller after he had an accident on his motorcycle. The accident left Muller in a really bad state and his medical bills were going to be high. 

So, to help him out, King got together with John Grisham, Peter Straub and Pat Conroy and performed at a benefit that was held on February 2, 2002, at Town Hall in New York. All four authors appeared for free and they each read or talked for about twenty to thirty minutes. First out was John Grisham. 

Grisham first held a rather funny introduction in which he talked about King. He talks about when King stayed at the Grishams and how he felt when King was injured in the accident a few years back. He then read from his book
The Summons
. 

After Grisham it was Straub’s turn. He read from the book
Black House
that he wrote with King. Unfortunately, he read a pretty grim part of the book and even though the part itself is good, it didn’t feel right in the spirit of the event. Personally, I would have chosen a different part of the book; there are better suited parts.