No one wanted to publish a Stephen King short story collection, but when The Shining became his first hardcover best-seller right after Carrie hit it big at the box office his career kicked into overdrive. Doubleday had King under contract and they wanted another novel the following year, but their author was buried in writing what he described as his own Vietnam of a book, The Stand, which seemed like it would never end. With no way to predict how long it would ultimately be, he offered Doubleday a collection of short stories he’d written for magazines like Cavalier (mostly), Penthouse, and Cosmopolitan. With a foreword by King himself and four new stories, they reluctantly agreed, grudgingly running off a first printing of 12,000 copies (less than the first printing of ‘Salem’s Lot) without even any cover art. Before they knew it, the first printing was sold out and Doubleday was having to send out copies reserved for their Book Club and printing copies on cheaper paper to satisfy demand.
When I mentioned this re-read to people, the first thing a lot of them asked was, “You’re going to re-read Night Shift, right?” It’s one of King’s most popular books, the gateway drug to his longer novels, and most readers remember at least one story vividly. But is it actually any good?
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