Elevation is not your typical Stephen King novel in that it is only 146 pages and the book is smaller than the typical book making it even shorter than that which, if you read King's books is highly unusual as his books can be used as a doorstop or a weapon in killing someone they're so long. It's also not a horror novel, so in that way, it's not typical. But it's still typical King in that something unusual is going on and that it takes place in his most famous town of Castle Rock.
Scott Carey a divorced architect has decided to confide in his friend a retired doctor, Bob Ellis that according to his scale he is losing weight even though he still looks the same with the slight belly roll over the belt. He also weighs the same naked as he does with clothes on that have five pounds of coins in his pockets which brings the total up to about fourteen pounds. He's losing a pound or two a day. Ellis suggests going to a hospital to figure out what's wrong with him, but Scott knows that they won't be able to figure out what's wrong with him before he dies and he wants to just live his life.
Scott's next door neighbors are a lesbian couple Misty and Deidre and they have a contentious relationship because when they run in the neighboorhood they allow their dogs to poop on his lawn and don't clean it up. They deny that their dogs are doing it. Scott captures it on camera and goes over there to confront them and Deidre, who has a chip on her shoulder, gets snotty when he says that this isn't how good neighbors solve things like this. That his intent isn't to get them in trouble with animal control only to fix the problem.
Misty comes by to explain Deidre and why she has the chip on her shoulder. They moved here from Boston because the restaurant market seemed perfect and the summer went well, but the fall hasn't gone as well as they had hoped and they need the locals to get them through the winter. And the locals have a problem with married lesbians. It's like how dare they throw it in their faces. This is an area that voted for Trump. And their restaurant Holy Frijoles a vegetarian restaurant is having trouble no matter how good the food is.
Castle Rock is having it's annual Turkey Trot marathon race that benefits the Rec Center. Scott hoping to try to win Deidre over to his side makes a bet with her that if he wins he will make a vegetarian dinner for her and Misty and if he loses the dogs can poop on his lawn and he won't say anything. Deidre was a professional runner and isn't worried about losing, but Scott has been continuously losing weight and feeling lighter and believes that maybe he has a chance.
This book is filled with a special magic and not just that Scott is losing weight without appearing to. It's the magic of the human spirit and how one man can make a difference. This is King at his greatest examing people and seeing the best and the worst, but leaving you feeling pretty good about the world, hence the title of the book Elevation. I give it five out of five stars.
Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Elevation-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B07CMKXZ2J/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542380687&sr=8-1&keywords=elevation+stephen+king
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