Different Seasons

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Different Seasons
First edition
AuthorStephen King
Cover artistKinuko Y. Craft
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherViking Press
Publication date
August 27, 1982
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages527
ISBN978-0-670-27266-2
Preceded byNight Shift 
Followed bySkeleton Crew 

Different Seasons (1982) is a collection of four Stephen King novellas with a more dramatic bent, rather than the horror fiction for which King is famous.[1] The four novellas are tied together via subtitles that relate to each of the four seasons. The collection is notable for having three out of its four novellas turned into Hollywood films, one of which, The Shawshank Redemption, was nominated for the 1994 Academy Award for Best Picture, and another of which, Stand by Me, was nominated for the 1986 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Novellas[edit]

Name Subtitle Film adaptation
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption Hope Springs Eternal The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Apt Pupil Summer of Corruption Apt Pupil (1998)
The Body Fall from Innocence Stand by Me (1986)
The Breathing Method A Winter's Tale n/a

Title[edit]

At the ending of the book, there is also a brief afterword, which King wrote on January 4, 1982. In it, he explains why he had not previously submitted the novellas (each written at a different time) for publication. Early in his career, his agents and editors expressed concern that he would be "written off" as someone who only wrote horror. However, his horror novels turned out to be quite popular and made him much in demand as a novelist. Conversely, the novellas, which did not deal (primarily) with the supernatural, were very difficult to publish as there was not a mass market for "straight" fiction stories in the 25,000- to 35,000-word format. Thus, King and his editor conceived the idea of publishing the novellas together as "something different", hence the title of the book.

In popular culture[edit]

The second episode of the seventh season of the 2016 American television series Billions featured a copy of the book in the possession of a prisoner character played by Clancy Brown. Brown played a sadistic prison guard in the 1994 movie adaptation of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "BOOKS OF THE TIMES (Published 1982)". The New York Times. 11 August 1982. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10.
  2. ^ "Billions Recap: It Ain't Me, Babe". 18 August 2023.