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AUTHOR’S NOTE
The Stand is a work of fiction, as its subject matter makes perfectly clear.
Many of the events occur in real places such as Ogunquit, Maine; Las
Vegas, Nevada; and Boulder, Colorado and with these places I have taken
the liberty of changing them to whatever degree best suited the course of
my fiction. I hope that those readers who live in these and the other real
places that are mentioned in this novel will not be too upset by my
“monstrous impertinence,” to quote Dorothy Sayers, who indulged freely in
the same sort of thing.
Other places, such as Arnette, Texas, and Shoyo, Arkansas, are as
fictional as the plot itself.
Special thanks are due to Russell Dorr (P.A.) and Dr. Richard Herman,
both of the Bridgton Family Medical Center, who answered my questions
about the nature of the flu, and its peculiar way of mutating every two years
or so, and to Susan Artz Manning of Castine, who proofed the original
manuscript.
Most thanks of all to Bill Thompson and Betty Prashker, who made this
book happen in the best way.
S.K
PART 1: TO BE READ BEFORE PURCHASE
There are a couple of things you need to know about this version of The
Stand right away, even before you leave the bookstore. For that reason I
hope I’ve caught you early—hopefully standing there by the K section of
new fiction, with your other purchases tucked under your arm and the book
open in front of you. In other words, I hope I’ve caught you while your
wallet is still safely in your pocket. Ready? Okay; thanks. I promise to be
brief.
First, this is not a new novel. If you hold misapprehensions on that score,
let them be dispelled right here and right now, while you are still a safe
distance from the cash register which will take money out of your pocket
and put it in mine. The Stand was originally published over ten years ago.
Second, this is not a brand-new, entirely different version of The Stand.
You will not discover old characters behaving in new ways, nor will the
course of the tale branch off at some point from the old narrative, taking
you, Constant Reader, in an entirely different direction.
This version of The Stand is an expansion of the original novel. As I’ve
said, you won’t find old characters behaving in strange new ways, but you
will discover that almost all of the characters were, in the book’s original
form, doing more things, and if I didn’t think some of those things were
interesting—perhaps even enlightening—I would never have agreed to this
project.
If this is not what you want, don’t buy this book. If you have bought it
already, I hope you saved your sales receipt. The bookshop where you made
your purchase will want it before granting you credit or a cash refund.
If this expansion is something you want, I invite you to come along with
me just a little farther. I have lots to tell you, and I think we can talk better
around the corner.
In the dark