“Gwendy’s” puts our fate in a girl’s hands
4280 Tennyson St.; 303-284-0194; bookbardenver.com
June 4: Celebrate the release of Trent Hudley’s “One of These Days.” 5 p.m. Free.
June 6: Grand Snider will discuss and sign “The Shape of Ideas: An Illustrated Exploration of Creativity.” 7 p.m. Free.
June 8: Pete the Cat will host a special happier hour including a story time with the Cool Cat Boogie Dance. 4 p.m. Free.
June 9: Brendan Leonard will present his new guide, “The Great Outdoors: Everything You Need to Know Before Heading Into the Wild.” 7 p.m. Free.
June 10: During another Bookgirl book club, mothers and daughters can discuss Ann M. Martin’s “Rain Reign,” 10:30 p.m., free; Sue Duff, Jene Jackson and others will host a Local Author Open Mic Night, 5 p.m., free; Local Author Extravaganza includes Charlotte Annie, Brian Dickson, Alan Good and more. 7:30 p.m., free.
Boulder Book Store 1107 Pearl St., Boulder; 303-4472074; boulderbookstore.com
June 5: Peter Anderson will present his new collection of essays, “Heading Home: Field Notes.” 7:30 p.m. $5.
June 6: Take a ride back in time to September 1776 with Virginia Dejohn Anderson’s “The Martyr and the Traitor.” 7:30 p.m. $5.
June 7: Finn Murphy, who has been a long-haul trucker for more than 30 years, talks about his book, “The Long Haul.” 7:30 p.m. $5.
June 8: Philip Ferbach will discuss his new exploration of intelligence, “The Knowledge Illusion.” 7:30 p.m. $5.
Children’s Museum of Denver 2121 Children’s Museum Drive; 303-433-7444; mychildsmuseum.com
June 4-11: Storytime for adults and kids. 9:30 or 11:30 a.m., weekdays; 11:30 a.m., weekends. Free
Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock 100 S. Wilcox St., Castle Rock; 303-791-7323; dcl.org/castle-rock
June 9: Enjoy an evening with bestselling author Stephen Coonts as he discusses and signs his latest novel, “Liberty’s Last Stand.” 6:30-8 p.m. Free with registration via phone or email.
Tattered Cover, Aspen Grove 7301 S. Santa Fe Dr., Littleton; 303-470-7050; tatteredcover.com
June 6: Loretta Graziano Breuning will teach readers how to rewire their negative brains with “The Science of Positivity.” 7 p.m. Free.
June 7: During another mystery reading, Leslie Budewitz will read and sign her latest thriller, “Treble at the Jam Fest.” 7 p.m. Free.
June 9: Comic cartoonist Grant Snider will discuss and sign “The Shape of Ideas: An Illustrated Exploration of Creativity.” 7 p.m. Free.
June 9: Sahdhya Menon will read from her young adult novel “When Dimple Met Rishi” during Teen Book Talk. 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover, Colfax 2526 E. Colfax Ave.; 303-322-7727
June 5: David Montgomery will present “Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life.” 7 p.m. Free
June 6: Trucker Finn Murphy discusses his book, “The Long Haul.” 7 p.m. Free.
June 8: Colorado writer Francine Mathews will present her new mystery, “Death on Nantucket.” 7 p.m. Free.
June 9: This Book Club Happy Hour will shine a light on memoirs. 6:30 p.m. Free
Tattered Cover, Lodo 1628 16th St.; 303-436-1070; tatteredcover.com
June 8: Author Maile Meloy, who received a Guggenheim Fellowship, will read from and sign her new book, “Do Not Become Alarmed” during a reception mingle. 6:30-8 p.m. Free. HORROR
In the course of his majorly prolific career, Stephen King has collaborated successfully on a number of projects, notably “The Talisman” and “Black House,” dark epic fantasies co-written with Peter Straub. Now, specialty publisher Cemetery Dance brings us King’s latest collaborative effort, and it’s something quite different. “Gwendy’s Button Box,” written in conjunction with Cemetery Dance founder Richard Chizmar, is a modest but resonant novella set in one of King’s signature locales: the small town of Castle Rock, Maine.
Castle Rock, a name derived from William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies,” has been the site of numerous novels and stories. King destroyed the town in his 1991 novel “Needful Things,” but Castle Rock stories still find their way into the world. This one begins in 1974 and takes us through 10 years in the life of Gwendy Peterson.
As the story opens, Gwendy is 12 years old. She is a bright, sensible girl with a weight problem she is determined to correct. For reasons she will never understand, Gwendy has come to the attention of a mysterious man in black named Richard Farris, who brings her a unique and dangerous gift: the button box of the title. That box is the enigmatic engine that runs beneath the surface of this book. Its properties include the ability to dispense gifts (chocolate, silver dollars) as well as the capacity to alter the lives of those nearby. Mostly, though, it is a color-coded Doomsday Machine. Each of the colored buttons on its surface has as its “target” a specific continent. (And then there’s that cancerous looking black button, the one that will destroy everything.) In the world of this story, apocalypse is no more than a button push away.
The narrative moves quickly and with great economy through Gwendy’s decade-long stewardship of the world’s most dangerous device. The cosmic elements of the story merge neatly with the sort of mundane details King has always delivered so effectively.
Chizmar, whose best short fiction was recently collected in “A Long December,” is an excellent writer with a clear affinity for King’s brand of storytelling, which includes a clear, idiomatic prose style and a flair for creating instantly recognizable characters. Together, he and King have created what is both a superior addition to the never-quite-finished saga of Castle Rock and a cautionary tale directed toward a world that grows crazier — and more incomprehensible — with every passing day.