ABSTRACT
Paul Sheldon is a successful writer who can command six-figure advances and film rights; he appears in USA Today and on Entertainment Tonight, and is enough of a celebrity to do ads for credit cards or vodka. His best sellers are centred on the life of Misery Chastain, the "darling of the dump-bins and sweetheart of the supermarkets", a woman he has come to hate and despise. In despair and full of hate, Paul decides to kill Misery Chastain. Her death in Misery's Child, the last book that is ever going to be written about her, is a motive for celebration. The killing of Misery has brought new impetus to Paul's creativity. Annie had found Paul's car off the road. She is a former nurse who lives by herself on an isolated farm, together with half a dozen laying hens, two cows, and a sow named Misery.
