Cujo
by Stephen King

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Book Reviews of Cujo

Book Review: A Centerpiece in Stephen King's career
Summary: 5 Stars

Story: Enter the Trentons, Donna, the lonely housewife who has just broken off an affair under rather nasty circumstances, Vic, the interminably busy ad maker whos Biggest client is envoloped in a fatal scandal, and Tad, The curious son who's just begun to see monsters in his closet. Then we see the Cambers, Joe, The auto mechanic with an attitude, his wife Charity, Who dreams of a better lifestyle, and their son Brett, the precosious youth who owns a rather large St. Bernard named Cujo. This is where the story really starts to pick up. Cujo in fact is one of the most tame dogs you could have the fortune of having, but after chasing a rabbit into an unforseen hole and being bitten by a cache of bats, Cujo starts to feel different. Cujo was in fact infected with rabies and the disease slowly starts to eat away his mind. The oldest person in town, Evvie Chalmers, predicts that the summer of '82 will be the hottest in 30 years. Vic Trenton's ad campaign for a cereal backfired after the cereal caused its consumers to vomit blood, and he has to quickly rush to New York to reassess his issues. Donnna Trenton puts a stop to her affair with Steve Kemp(Her Neighbor), but he has other ideas. He soon after mails Vic an anonymous letter making him aware of the affair. Depressed and belittled, Vic gratefully travels to New York to get away for awhile. Tad Trenton starts to see a monster in his closet more frequently, and that monster is itching to get out. Back with the Cambers, Charity Camber wins the lottery to her great surprise and plans to take her son Brett with her to Hartford, Connecticut to visit her sister and show her son a "Better Lifestlyle". But before Brett leaves he notices that Cujo looked very sick, but he neglected to tell his father. Joe Camber, unhappy but agreeable to his wife and son's trip begins to plan a trip to Boston for himself and his best friend, the alcholic Gary Pervier, who is his next door neighbor, the only one for a few miles. After Vic Trenton's absense, Donna's brand new Pinto begins to act up, the needle valve apparently skewered, so she decides to take the car to the cheapest auto mechanic in town, Joe Camber(BAD IDEA). But beforehand, Cujo has been degraded to a mindless 250 pound mongrel hellbent on the thought of murder, and starts his killing spree by biting off Gary Pervier's throat and instantly killing him. The next day Joe Camber arrives at his friends house to find his dead friend and his worst nightmare, Cujo. He soon is made into lunch. By now, the Camber residense is totally deserted except for Cujo, and when Donna and Tad Trenton pull into the Camber's driveway in their fabled Pinto, Cujo's the first one they meet. It attacks and turns the Pinto into his own personal toy, and the people inside are it's puppets. The Pinto is unresponding and will not start up to Donna and Tad's dismay, and they are stuck for days under the watchful gaze of the insane and slowly dieing Cujo and under the sweltering sun of summer. Ultimately, the ultimate sacriface must be made for the survival of Donna, who saintly risks her life for her son but soon realizes he's already dead. Thus ends an Epic tale of irony and plot twists.

Writing: You can only describe the writing in this novel in one word: Breathtaking. You literally are held breathless and under the spell of King's writing, which forces you to read the novel in the course of 48 hours. His fastpaced prose and deftly laid plot twists and ironies astonish me in their careful planning and how they came out in the final product, and it is one of his most complex novels to date, a perfect choice for college reading teacher's studys. King is definitely in a Zone(The Dead Zone?Just Kidding) and tells the story in his I Want To Tell You A Story mode, unrelenting and never boring. He flexes his writing talents to the brink and shows us just how talented he really is. This is the best writing in any novel I've read of his SO FAR, encompassing The Shining or Needful Things, but I still hold an unsurpassable place set by The Green Mile. Great in every way possible, Cujo is remarkably polished and will be around for many years to come if justice is served.

Memorable Quote:"The world is full of monsters, and they were all allowed to bite the innocent and the unwary" Very True

Summary of Cujo

Horror Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror