Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

· Simon and Schuster
4.8
44 reviews
Ebook
128
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s beloved novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award–nominee The Shawshank Redemption—about an unjustly imprisoned convict who seeks a strangely satisfying revenge, is available as a standalone book.

Suspenseful, mysterious, and heart-wrenching, Stephen King’s extraordinary novella, populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, tells a powerful tale of crushing despair and liberating hope through the eyes of Ellis “Red” Redding. Red’s a guy who can get you whatever you want here in Maine’s corrupt and hard-edged Shawshank State Penitentiary (for a price, of course), but the one thing he doesn’t count on is an unexpected friendship forged with fellow inmate Andy Dufresne—an inscrutable one-time banker perhaps falsely convicted of brutal, calculated murder who will go on to transform everyone’s lives within these prison walls.

Originally published in the 1982 collection Different Seasons, it was adapted into the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this modern classic has become one of the most beloved films of all time. A mesmerizing work of unjust imprisonment and strangely satisfying revenge, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption remains one of Stephen King’s most beloved and iconic stories.

Ratings and reviews

4.8
44 reviews
Blake Stammet
May 2, 2022
5/2/2022 In writing this review, I want to make a few quick notes. I had just finished the book. Before reading, I've watched the movie (which inspired me to read the book.) I'm only 18, so allow that perspective to help establish my POV. I absolutely loved this book. It's my all time second favorite (behind "Jurassic Park." ) I do prefer the movie as Morgan Freeman played the role of Red more soundly. However, I feel as a lot of that is due to the fact of being able to detect the pure emotion in his voice. I also find the remarkable quotes more appealing in the movie. None the less, this was a great book. My only complaint is that it isn't longer. Even in the 128 pages, I found reading it to be almost second nature. Taking me only three days (during school classes as a Substitute). Again I really liked this booked, and that's why I give it five stars.
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Robert Moore
October 20, 2020
It's a captivating story with a good protagonist and a compelling narrator about life in prison and the lengths one will take to bide their time. It's easily my favorite King book.
2 people found this review helpful
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Aundrea Drummer
December 29, 2022
Love it reading the sample to see if it's something I could r ead,again after all these years
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About the author

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch (May 2025), the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

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