Umney's Last Case
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| "Umney's Last Case" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Mystery, science fiction short story |
| Published in | Umney's Last Case (1st release), Nightmares & Dreamscapes |
| Publication type | Booklet |
| Publisher | Penguin |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Publication date | 1993 |
Umney's Last Case (1993) is a short story written by Stephen King and published as a separate booklet as part of Penguin's 60th anniversary. It also appeared in Nightmares & Dreamscapes - a collection of King's stories.
[edit] Plot summary
The story begins as a Raymond Chandler pastiche, and follows a private investigator named Clyde Umney as he goes about what he thinks is just another morning in 1930s Los Angeles. He soon discovers that his life as he knows it is falling apart. All of his lifelong friends and associates are abruptly departing in one fashion or other, for reasons ranging from winning the lottery to terminal cancer, and many of them express disdain towards Umney in place of farewells. He is brooding alone in his office when he receives his final client: Landry, the crime-fiction author who created him. Having suffered the loss of his wife and child as well as a severe case of shingles, Landry took an overdose of medication and found himself in the world of his creation. He demonstrates that his will is law in this world, and explains to a helpless Umney that he intends to take Umney's place to live a life of eternal adventure and excitement. Umney is cast into oblivion--or so it seems.
Instead, Umney finds himself in the year 1994, occupying the vacated body of his creator. Although he realizes his previous existence was a sham, he also despises the ugly, bland, and generally inadequate nature of the "real" world. He announces that he has begun to practice the craft of writing so that he might return to his fictional home--not to displace Landry, but rather so that he might end both of their existences for good in a final, brutal act of vengeance.
[edit] Television
"Umney's Last Case" was included as the third installment of TNT's Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, starring William H. Macy in a dual role as both Umney and the author. It originally aired on July 19, 2006.
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