I was on page 448 out of 690 before I figured  it out ?????
346097
what was going on in this book. I am a NEW READER OF STEVEN'S books. The first one was Bag of Bones which I liked very much. It was a page turner and the description of the characters, the medaphores, and action was superb.

My second book was his memoir's titled On Writing by Stephen King. This book was a story of his life up to his accident that was one-third of the book and the balance for writers on how he writes.

Now be careful there are at least two very different versions of the memoirs with the same title. One is very good , the other marginal.

Now about Desperation I was on page 448 before I finally found out what was going on in the book. I knew I was missing a lot but not just sure what I was missing. I kept reading and got more and more confussed.

I am also fairly sure that a lot of Stephen's fans missed the point also.

Now I must go back and read the story again. I must have missed half of the story.

THe secret is the two characters not really described who do not appear in any of his other books, CAN AND TAK.

I had to go to WIKIPEDIA to find out what the book was all about. I suggest every one read the analyis of the book and then read it over again.
1670237
W. would not get off my back about book by AF. I was going to go anyway, so I sat down in my "office" and plowed through the whole book and half a roll of TP. W. was right. I made a big mistake not reading the  book until now. Good news- in time for next election. Paperback version  should drop right in the middle of the campaign. I didn't know I didn't  know so much about presidential campaigning until I found out by reading  the book what I know now about presindential campaigning. Think maybe I  should also read the book by Harry Shearer W. keeps harping about.  Nah.
P.S. Must remember to destroy review
291469
It made sense up to the end of chapter 5. Then, things don't start adding up.

The authors use a "cute" hypothetical scenario that was appropriate until the story started losing its thread. That happened, as far as I'm concerned, in chapter 6.

In that chapter, Billy, one of the protagonists, figured that "you can never be sure you have a correct problem definition, even after the problem is solved." After an intermediate lesson, Billy figures out that "you can never be sure you have a correct definition, but don't ever stop trying to get one."

And there the chapter ends.

That's where I started to grouse. Those are their words of wisdom!? Chapter 7 is entitled "The Endless Chain." It sounds like the correct sequel to the wheels that the authors started spinning in the preceding chapter. "Each solution is the source of the next problem." Really!? Draw me an Ishikawa diagram and I'll get to the source of the problem faster than the banal platitudes offered in this book.

I read my copy shortly after buying it. I was going through my bookshelf, recalled my unsatisfactory impression of this book, and decided to reread it. Well, I'm throwing it away and this is its tombstone.
531161
Yes, I understand that it does not go page 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. That was part of the fun. If you follow the original page directions, this one has you planning your trip, then crashing (no leaving the airport, and no flight), then somehow you are in the air flying again & worrying about your friends, and then you are in a 4x4 (without landing or getting into the 4x4) with a friend that you thought was possibly hurt on the previous page & looking for your copilot who had been with you the page before and suddenly is gone. With NO between plot. C'mon CYOA people, where's the proofreading?  This book has the page numbers all wrong. For example, page 4 says "turn to page 58." Well, I'm pretty sure it should be "8" and I've been trying to figure it all out & correct the numbers, but I guess I'll give up and try another one.

I'm not sure if I have a special copy, but I checked this out from the library because I loved this series as a kid and I thought my boys would enjoy it too. If I had bought this I would have been really upset. It is the paperback version, from Chooseco publishing with revised text in 2006. The book felt brand new in 6/2008.

Big disappointment, please don't waste your money. Try another CYOA book, but you may want to give it a test run at your local library first.
309207
So this rental seemed ok with your expected markings in a used book until this week.  Its crunch time and the professor gave us 3 chapters 8 -11, read and do the problems. I read chapter 8 of something im already a bit confused about and go to do the problems. Then im like wtf im i  chapter 9 let me turn back a few pages, well guess what someone ripped out chapter 8 question pages tbis got me into panic mode since it was due in the morning. I had to email everyone and their mother to piece the problems together. So then im reading and wtf did i skip something?, nope another page missing and one half torn. This has stressed me out so bad. If your looking for a book thats good through 7 chapters fine but this isn't for you if the class goes deep into it.
2925395
Got quite a surprise reading my book the other day. In the newest version of this book, page 56 is blank. In fact, several people told the professor in the class I'm using this book in about this, and it turns out nearly everyone who purchased the latest version of the book found the same thing. He wound up having to photocopy pg 56 out of an older version of the book and hand it out to us.

Outside of that, there's nothing wrong, but, just a heads up to anyone wanting to read *all* of chapter 3!
4270771
I never would have known this unless I had read a review that contained references to parts of the epilogue I did not see!!  It is a fatal flaw, in my honest opinion, to put the Acknowledgements section between two sections of the epilogue!!!
2626194
I just finally got around to reading this book - or trying to. It starts on page 57! Goes on to page 120, and then starts over again - with page 57. Nowhere in the book are there any pages numbered 1 - 56. Of course, it's too late to return it, but I would not have paid to send it back anyway. It'll come in handy come winter. Makes for a nice fire starter.
4624178
I couldn't figure it out. Part of me wishes I could go back and re read it to see all the hints
3946896
I received this book several weeks ago and when we began reading it I discovered that it was incorrectly bound by the publisher.  Once you reach page 101, there is a huge section that is incorrect- the next page is page 54 again!  the pages then run 54-86 and jump to page 135.  I have wasted my money on this book and had to go and purchase another one at a local bookstore today.  Since it is past the return date, I am stuck.  I would like someone to contact me about how this can be rectified.  Thank you
2352900
Sorry, but I never ordered such a book.  This must be some kind of error in your computer system.
Sincerely,
Lynn Meier
4291772
The book is normal up to page 145, then you have to find page 146 at the back of the book.  The pages after 146at the back of the book then run backwards to complete the books.  Thier out of order.  I had a good laugh. I wonder if I was the only one that had this issue.  This is an advanced graduate book. Difficult to read, but interesting.  Does great to tie the medical model and social work together.
2418070
p 128 ... I GOT THIS FAR BEFORE I NOTICED ANY MISTAKES ~~ WONDER WHAT I MAY HAVE MISSED ...
lst paragraph word "Y'all" is spelled "ya'll" ... the meaning of "Y'all" is "you all" ... there is no meaning for ya'll; very bad proofing here ...

next see pages 180 and 181 ... the word corpse/body/GARBAGE/whatever is missing ...
"...when the murderer moved the ? into the dumpster?" what did the murderer move into the dumpster???

page 181 has several: at the end of 2nd paragraph
"This was a man 'with of' sternest ethics." "with" or "of" not both ...
next para "... whereabouts after than time." what time?  that time?
last para ... LAST SENTENCE "... SWIPE IT, REPLACE IT WITH ... , AND REPLACE [WHAT] WITH ... AFTER"

IMAGINE: more that 4 errors in two pages ... who proofed this one ???

look real close ... you may find ones I missed..

barbara your brave bold and true "Texas Bluebonnet"
2897594
I went to page 46 where they have a typo that took me a while to figure out.....  When using floating decimal places you use %f not %d....... It's hard enough to start learning this stuff without obvious typos holding you back....
3583273
It starts from page 486. This book start "late", and i am not sure if it finish "early", the last page is page 916. I didn't do any of my math homeworks of this semester... :/
3962770
I just receded my book and it is making me think . It is prepping me for upcoming exam
263600
Can't believe it happened to me during the final exam preparation!
I just found out pages from 329 to 352 are missing when my categorical class proceed to this charpter 8! I don't know what to do. I am reluctant to return it because I made tons of notes in the previous charpters already! In other words, I personalized this book for three months!

I don't know how to ask amazon to make this up for me except return.