About this title: In a near-future America, the public is controlled by Free-Vee, a medium much like television. Economic disparity is even more pronounced: in order to get food and medication for his family, Ben Richards volunteers to play a deadly game called the Running Man. He must survive for a month, while one man tries to kill him, as the country watches and jeers Richards via Free-Vee.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: New Amer Library, New York
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780451151223ISBN:0451151224
Description: Good. 216 pp; edge wear, spine crease; Set in the year 2025, The Running Man is a frightening tale of a sick society, fascinated by bloodthirsty game shows where desperate individuals wager their lives for a shot at fabulous riches. From The Bachman Books by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in the film version due to open mid-July. Includes 8 pages of photos from the movie. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780451197962ISBN:0451197968
Description: Good. 0451197968 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in good condition, varying degrees of shelf wear, some spine creases, m..._ read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780451151223ISBN:0451151224
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Edition: Reissue
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780451151223ISBN:0451151224
Description: Good. Used-Good. May have edgewear, creases, small tears, reader's crease, previous owner's name, store stamps or other minor flaws. Text clean, binding tight. Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"In the forward, King talks about the different mindset as he wrote as Richard Bachman (his alternate pen name that was outed). I think it shows in the story, and I will seek out other books he penned as Bachman.
The story itself is dark and grim. I would almost call it cyberpunk. A scary relevant look as north america is segregated and distracted by powerful media interests. The protagonist decides to go on a morbid game show to win money for his family. His journey as a "running man" he learns of government and media suppression about pollution killing the working class and the complete out of touch reality the middle class seems to live in.
I highly recommend you read this book, then look at the tv listing, count the reality shows vs news."
"A few of the books that Stephen King wrote under his Richard Bachman pseudonym are very dark in content. One of the darkest of these (in my opinion) is The Running Man.
Although the fear of technology and the dangers of reality television is a long-standing tradition in dystopian science-fiction, Stephen King has managed to make his own take on it interesting and different.
Through the eyes of a main character who is reminiscent of George Orwell's Winston Smith and Warren Ellis' Spider Jerusalem, we are shown around a world dominated by violent gameshows and inhabited by broken, desperate people. It's a grim journey, but one well worth making."
"Stephen King is my guilty pleasure author. I like his writing although the main characters begin to appear pretty similar after a time. I enjoy the way he writes thought and action in this interesting way that just works.
This particular story was an interesting foray into a Brave New World/1984-esque terrible future world that also has enough twinges of the way things already are to sufficiently make one afraid. The story was quickly paced, and readable--I accidently read Stephen King's foreword first though, and this must've been a later edition because he was talking about using the name Richard Bachman and how folks found out it was really him, and he also revealed how the book ended--so I knew what was coming. Maybe it would've been better to have been surprised. I dunno."
"Stew recommended this one, saying I should read it so we could talk about the differences between it and the movie. I can't say I like ALL Stephen King books, but most of the ones I've read are good, plus I like futuristic stuff. Definitely the book is better, but the Arnold movie is kind of fun too in a different way. The end of the book is kind of foreshadowing / eerie."
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