Elevation by Stephen King

Listened to the audiobook version of Elevation (2018) by Stephen King (read by the author) shortly after finishing my first Stephen King novel¹.

This wasn't horror at all (so this makes two books from the "King of Horror", but I'm not yet horrified) but I liked it better than Later: a touching story with a premise that goes something like "what if a man started to progressively lose weight until he weighs nothing at all". Benjamin Button, but for weight.

The novella is followed by a short story titled "Laurie". It's similarly touching, about how a grieving man comes to love the initially unwanted gift of a puppy. Something that stands out from both stories is the characters: they're kind, they're imperfect, they do their best, they're people and they feel real.

Not sure what King novel is next for me, maybe something from earlier in his career? (He's published 65 novels to date: there is choice.) In the meantime I've started On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000), also in its audiobook version and also read by the author.