“The Life of Chuck” by Stephen King

c.2020 and 2025, Scribner $20.00 111 pages

She was a total stranger.

You’d never seen her before – not that you could remember, anyway – and you may never see her again but you’ll never forget her. You’d thought your week couldn’t get any worse and she turned it around with unexpected kindness and a sunny smile. Tiny actions, as in the newly-released book “The Life of Chuck” by Stephen King, can have gigantic effects.

The internet was down again. Well, it was down-ish in a weird sort of way.

The billboard Marty Anderson saw, the one that everyone saw atop the Midwest Trust building, the one that said “CHARLES KRANTZ” and “39 GREAT YEARS! THANKS, CHUCK!” was all his computer offered. The greeting was plastered everywhere on television, too, if you could actually get anything on TV. If the electricity was on.

When a sinkhole appeared just down the street from his house, Marty had nothing to do and a sudden need to be with his ex-wife. If he could get there.

Douglas Beaton sat next to a hospital bed, watching his brother, Chuck, as he lay dying. Chuck’s son, Brian, was just a teenager, much too young to lose his father but glioblastoma didn’t care about that. Chuck had just turned 39 years old. He was loved. He’d always be remembered as someone who loved to dance.

Nine months ago, on a work conference, Chuck had no idea that he would die soon. It didn’t factor into his decision to sidewalk-dance with a woman he didn’t know, to the tune of a busker he’d never met. He danced for the joy of it, the freedom of it, to honor his grandmother, who taught him the steps. To think of his buddy’s sister, who danced with him in a more innocent time.

Twenty-two years ago, Chuck Krantz saw a brief vision of death – his own. But he chose not to see it at all.

Previously published five years ago in a story collection, now a novella and “a most excellent movie,” “The Life of Chuck” is somewhat of a departure from what you might normally expect from author Stephen King.

Yes, it has its hair-raising, goose-bumpy moments. It’s told in a way that plays with time, and yes, it will absolutely alarm you with its first relevant chapters but the scare isn’t in the spotlight here. Instead, this book leaves readers unsettled and uncomfortably hanging for awhile, forced to think about what the heck they just read until it sinks in, the joy of it, its down-to-earthness, the Apocalyptic Sword of Damocles feeling, the acknowledgment of the choices we all make every day. It’s a book you almost want to read again when you get to the end, just for the pure pleasure of it.

King’s fans will want this book on their shelf regardless, but “The Life of Chuck” is worthwhile for anyone who wants a super-short novel to read in the waning days of summer. Seize each day as if there’s no tomorrow. Grab this book that’s more tender, less stranger.