Cujo
First edition cover
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| Author | Stephen King |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Horror |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
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Publication date
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September 8, 1981 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 309 |
| ISBN | |
Cujo is a 1981 psychological horror novel by Stephen King about a rabid dog. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982, and was made into a film in 1983.
Cujo's name was based on the nom de guerre of Willie Wolfe, one of the men responsible for orchestrating Patty Hearst's kidnapping and indoctrination into the Symbionese Liberation Army. Stephen King discusses Cujo in On Writing, referring to it as a novel he "barely remembers writing at all". The book was written during a period when King was drinking heavily. King goes on to say that he likes the book and that he wishes he could remember enjoying the good parts as he put them down on the page.
The story takes place in the setting of numerous King works: the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Revolving around two local families, the narrative is interspersed with vignettes from the seemingly mundane lives of various other residents. There are no chapter headings but breaks in between passages to indicate when the narration switches to a different point of view.
The principal characters are the Trenton and the Camber families. The middle-class Trentons have recently moved to Castle Rock from New York City, bringing with them their four-year-old son, Tad. Father, Vic, discovers that his wife, Donna, has recently concluded an affair. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's advertising agency is failing, and he is forced to travel out of town, leaving Tad and Donna at home. The blue-collar Cambers are longtime residents; Joe is a mechanic who dominates and abuses his wife, Charity, and their ten-year-old son, Brett. Charity wins a $5,000 lottery prize and uses the proceeds to trick Joe into allowing her to take Brett on a trip to visit Charity's sister, Holly, in Connecticut. Joe acquiesces, secretly planning to use the time to take a pleasure trip to Boston.
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Wikipedia