This summer Simon & Schuster Audio re-released Bag of Bones on audio CD. I have just listened to it and I must say that I had actually forgotten what a good book Bag of Bones is.

It’s good both because of the story but also because it feels so autobiographical. Sometimes it feels like King is describing his own life. And maybe he is to some degree. Maybe King, like Mike Noonan, has a stash of books in a safety box somewhere and just picks one or two each year... No, I don’t think that is the case but when you read eh book it feels like it’s possible. That’s the feeling King gives you in Bag of Bones.

Another good thing about this audio is that at the end there is an interview with King. It’s done right after the recording of Bag of Bones so it’s unique for this audio and is concentrated on Bag of Bones totally. Very entertaining and something I whish every audio book would have.

Bag of Bones was also the first book King released with Scribner and is somewhat a memorable place in his career. If I remember correctly King made a deal with Scribner in which they split the risk and King only got a very small sum for the book and then a percentage on the sales. This wasn’t the way deal where made and it made the news back in 1998.

One thing that isn’t so good with this one is that on each CD there are only 2 or 3 tracks instead of the 17-18 that is usually on a CD. Why is that a problem you might ask? Well, if you, like me, listen to it on your way to work and you have to break say 22 minutes in to track 2 you have to first find track 2 and then fast forward 22 min to get to where you left of the next time your listening. It’s not impossible but it gets a bit annoying. It is much easier when the tracks are only 5-6 minutes.

My guess though is that this isn’t something that will appear on other audios tough. Why? Well I think (and this is only a guess) that since this is a re-issued title and all the following titles have had 17-18 tracks on them this was a mistake by the publisher (or they discovered that it was better with more tracks) that was then corrected to the next book. They left it on the re-issued edition though since that one is probably identical to the first.

Anyhow, don’t let this stop you from getting this audio. It’s worth all the fast-forward to hear Bag of Bones. Oh, and I almost forgot, the best of it all is that it’s read by Stephen King himself. This alone makes the book very listenable and combined with a good story it makes Bag of Bones a very good audio choice.

If you want to comment or discuss this review, please mail me.