Life of Chuck

Originally featured in the acclaimed story collection If It Bleeds, this unforgettable, mind-bending tale unfolds in reverse, taking readers through the extraordinary life of Charles `Chuck` Krantz. In a crumbling world plagued by natural disasters, collapsing infrastructure, and mass panic, bizarre billboards and advertisements appear throughout town: `Charles Krantz. Thirty-nine great years. Thanks, Chuck!` Marty Anderson, a schoolteacher, becomes obsessed with these messages as the world, inexplicably linked to Chuck`s life, seems to be approaching its end. Told in three acts, presented in reverse order, The Life of Chuck explores one man`s past. We see him in middle age on a business trip in Boston as he is seduced by a busker into spinning a gorgeous sidewalk dance. And we see him as a child, in a house haunted by a terrible secret, learning to dance with his grandmother. In these pages King reminds us that life`s quotidian pleasures are even more glorious because they are fleeting: the outrageous good fortune of a beautiful blue day after a string of gray ones; the delight of dancing when every move feels perfect; a serendipitous meeting. King`s ability to describe pure joy rivals his ability to terrify us.