Cujo by Stephen King

Cujo

by Stephen King

Cujo, published in 1981 amidst Stephen King's heavy substance abuse addiction, is probably the perfect King novel. Despite an overwhelming dislike for the book by the bookish community, I find it to be an exceptional example of what King can do.

Here's the story:

Cujo wants to be a good dog and tries to be obedient to The Man, The Woman, and The Boy - Joe, Charity, and Brett Camber. But on one of his rambles through the area surrounding his rural home, Cujo gets bitten by a bat in a hidden cave. A rabid bat. And Cujo's relentless drive to kill begins.

Vic and Donna Trenton are going through a tough time when Donna tells Vic she's been having an affair after he receives a note form her former lover. Vic is going away for a business trip and leaves Donna to care for their 4-year-old son, Tad who fears the monster in his closet. Donna's car is having trouble and Vic tells her to take it to the Camber's to be fixed by Joe.

At the same time, Charity Camber convinces her husband, whom she despises, to let her take their son to visit her sister in Connecticut. This works for Joe, who decides to take his buddy on a trip of their own, a lurid trip of debauchery. But he doesn't get the chance. Cujo is roaming, infected and going mad. The first to be killed is Joe's buddy, then Joe himself.

It's the perfect storm when Donna takes her car to the Camber's where it promptly dies and will not start again. Cujo is there, traps Donna and Tad in the car, and days pass with little food, no water, and a tormented beast waiting to rip out their throats should they step from the car.

Cujo is King grappling with his relentless addictions. The story takes place in Castle Rock, which we first saw in The Dead Zone, and two repeating characters are here again: Sheriff Bannerman and the dead killer, Frank Dodd. Frank, the former kid- and woman-killer is now a folk legend meant to make kids behave. He's the metaphor for the monster in the closet, while Cujo is the monster unleashed. Eventually the beast is overcome, but at a great cost. But there is another potential monster (i.e. addiction) waiting for its chance, in the form of the new puppy Brett Camber receives to replace Cujo at the end of the book.

This is easily a 5-star book, in my opinion. The pacing is perfect, the length as well. I cared about the characters, all of them, including the ones that were perverse. The plot was magnificently rendered and set up in the perfect way without feeling forced or artificial. Of course Donna and Tad were going to be stuck at the Camber's with Cujo. It was inevitable. But it was natural, the perfect alignment of choices and events. Thankfully, some other book reviewers agree. Cujo is a great book and probably my favorite of King's up to this point.