Product Description

'The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted. Trisha McFarland discovered this when she was nine years old. Trying not to be terrified. Trying not to think that sometimes when people got lost in the woods they got seriously hurt. Sometimes they died.' In Trisha's panic to get back on the track, she takes turnings which lead her deeper and deeper into the woods. With only a small amount of food and water in her knapsack, she begins to give up hope of ever getting out. Alive. The only thing that keeps her going is her Walkman on which she listens avidly to Red Sox baseball games, creating an imaginary friendship with her hero Tom Gordon. And as she struggles for survival and a way out, she realises she's not alone. There's something else in the woods - and it's watching her...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #372963 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Stephen King has been for so long the master of the thick blockbuster horror paperback that it is salutary to be reminded of the quieter writer of shorter, tighter stories that he also is. His new novella could hardly be simpler--a nine-year-old girl, smart and resourceful, gets herself lost in the deep woods when she strays off the path for a moment and struggles to survive with a little food, not especially sensible clothing and a Walkman. One of the threats dogging Trisha is her imagination--she is an smart enough child to know how much trouble she is in and gradually to personify the wasps, and midges and dangerous animals, as a God of the Lost. And that imagination is also her strongest resource--she has a baseball cap signed by the Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon, which becomes her talisman. This is a story of almost pure sentiment and suspense; King has always had fascinating insight into the minds of children and a command of detail that makes him the ideal writer of certain sorts of shipwreck. The almost minimal material here--a single character, what she has on her, and deep woods--make this one of his most gripping and compulsive tales. --Roz Kaveney

Review
'A compelling battle for survival that you dare not put down' - Daily Mail 'Moving, gripping. One of his best...A literary home run' Mirror 'Vintage King' -- Independent on Sunday 'Moving, gripping. One of his best...A literary home run' -- Mirror 'Utterly compulsive, bears ample witness to King's mastery of his craft' -- Mail on Sunday 'King writing at his compelling best' -- Express on Sunday

Mail on Sunday
‘Utterly compulsive, bears ample witness to King's mastery of his craft'

Customer Reviews

This is soooo good!
This is one of my favourite books ever. It's scary, profound, touching, addictive, and has the most creepy villain I have seen in a long time - Praise the God of the Lost!
Trisha's tale does not seem very actractive when you think about the basic idea: A 9-year-old baseball fan gets lost in the woods, and turns to her walkman for some company while something watches her. However, this is King, my friends, and it becomes an astonishing tale of survival and mistery when elements like Trisha' s imagination and some philosophical topics are added. It made me think, it made me feel for the character, it kept me hooked. It's one of his best.

Imaginative to say the least.
The Girl who loved Tom Gordon was the first Stephen King book I read. It is most likely the best book for a Stephen King beginner. The storyline is gripping right from the beginning. It tells a tale of a young girl that gets lost in the forest after a call of nature. The things she sees are beyond what you could imagine. Only someone with such talent could think of this storyline. However the book is so descriptive that it is easy to picture the images in your head. It is based on a fight for survival for the young girl called Trisha McFarland. Something is in the woods watching her but if I told you what then there would be no point in reading the book. It had a fantastic storyline that takes you through suspense, horror and myth all at once.

pick up the bat
My shelves seem to be weighed under with books - and at least two of them with King -so I was somewhat reluctant to read a story which the back cover described as having a basis in baseball. Ok I'd bought the book -I buy a lot - Im a collector. So it sat on the shelf for a while and every now and then I'd pick it up - toy with the idea of reading it and go on to something more 'substantial'.
Guess what? No big surprise - when I eventually got round to reading it I found I was once again drawn into Kings world - but with a difference. Tom Gordon has structure - simplicity and above all else a satisfying conclusion.
Too many of Kings books - much as love them - seem to flounder with plot and constructive endings.He seems to love the idea of the story but seem unable to resolve it for the reader.
This is why the short story is his medium in my opinion. He can plot and write vivid desciptions and not let his pen wander.
And this book is basically a novella - it deals with one very simple idea and works on it and grows it organically.
Sure it mentions baseball but its got nothing to do with the story which at its heart is about courage - fear and overcoming the odds.
You know what its about - so I wont spoil the detail. It's Kings best read in a long time - a mature read that made me -a 36 year old man - well up and almost - i said almost shed a tear.
Read it.