Different Seasons

Different Seasons

File:Different Seasons-Stephen King (1982).jpg First edition cover
Author	Stephen King
Cover artist	Kinuko Y. Craft
Language	English
Publisher	Viking Press
Publication date	August 27, 1982
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	527
ISBN	978-0-670-27266-2

Different Seasons (1982) is a collection of four Stephen King novellas with a more serious dramatic bent than the horror fiction for which King is famous. The four novellas are tied together via subtitles that relate to each of the four seasons. The collection is notable for having had three of its four novellas turned into Hollywood films, one of which, The Shawshank Redemption, was nominated for the 1994 Academy Award for Best Picture.

Novellas

Name	Subtitle	Film adaptation
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption	Hope Springs Eternal	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Apt Pupil	Summer of Corruption	Apt Pupil (1998)
The Body	Fall From Innocence	Stand by Me (1986)
The Breathing Method	A Winter's Tale

Title

At the ending of the book, there is also a brief afterword, which King wrote on January 4, 1982. In it, he explains why he had not previously submitted the novellas (each written at a different time) for publication. Early in his career, his agents and editors expressed concern that he would be "written off" as someone who only wrote horror. However, his horror novels turned out to be quite popular and made him much in demand as a novelist. Conversely, the novellas, which did not deal (primarily) with the supernatural, were very difficult to publish as there was not a mass market for "straight" fiction stories in the 25,000 to 35,000 word format. Thus, King and his editor conceived the idea of publishing the novellas together as "something different", hence the title of the book.

See also

• 1982 in literature
• Stephen King short fiction bibliography