From a Buick 8 is a horror novel by American writer Stephen King. Published on September 24, 2002, this is the second novel by King to be centred around a car (the first one being Christine which, like this novel, is set in Western Pennsylvania). The title comes from Bob Dylan's song "From a Buick 6".

Background

King conceived the idea for the novel as a result of an incident in March 1999. Driving back alone to Maine after spending the winter in Florida, he stopped at a gas station, went to the bathroom at the back of the building, slipped on ice, fell down a bank and almost fell into a swollen stream. the book has been seen as an attempt to cope with "the senselessness" of his near-fatal accident as well as that of the 9/11 attacks. Reactor describes some of the themes as being: "the failures of writing, the failures of story, and the failures of fiction." Reviewers have commented that the story of the Buick may serve as a metaphor for King's own sense of mortality, and "a response to 9/11".

Reception

Appearing for only one week at Number 1 of the New York Times bestseller list, reviewers were divided on the novel's perceived lack of closure, its lack of narrative tension and its focus on everyday characters. while the New York Times called it: "a King novel to read for voice and atmosphere, not plot," and Reactor called it: "the best Stephen King novel of the last ten years."

Adaptation

In 2005, Chesapeake Films announced that George A. Romero would direct a motion picture adaptation of From a Buick 8, but production stalled in 2009. In 2018 it was announced that an adaptation was in development with William Brent Bell as director and writer. In December 2019, Thomas Jane announced that he would be teaming up for the adaptation of this movie. On an August 2020 episode of The Kingcast podcast, Thomas Jane said that Jim Mickle had signed on to direct. In 2024 it was announced that James Wan had acquired the rights and would now be working on the project.

References

  • From a Buick 8 at StephenKing.com