"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is one of the novellas from Stephen King's Different Seasons collection (1982). This unabridged audio version is a reissue, available for the first time on CD. I'm pleased that they stuck with this Frank Muller narration rather than re-recording it with a different narrator - Muller is (was) the finest in the business.

The story is told in first person by Red, an inmate of a prison called "Shawshank". He's the guy who can get people things, so sooner or later he meets everyone there. A new inmate named Andy Dufresne asks Red if he can get him a rock hammer - reluctantly, Red gets it for him, but only after he's convinced that Andy is not planning to use it to kill other inmates. Years go by and life in the prison is difficult, then something happens to change the status quo.

Stephen King's greatest gift is characterization, and "Shawshank" is a great example of it. This powerful story made so because I empathized a great deal with the people in it.

One further note - this audiobook comes in at about 4 hours in length. This is the perfect length, in my opinion, for an audiobook. I am no fan of abridgments, so please, no more of those, but unabridged novella length works - I love them. ( )

Laundering down the wall.

A story told about a really lengthy escape plan. The narrator here is a fixer who is able to get all sorts of stuff smuggled into a prison.

The story he is telling is of a man convicted of murder, who happens to also be a financial wizard, using this ability to earn goodwill and a position as a librarian, and a cell to himself.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/07... ( )

What a beautiful story. This is surely one of the best books ever written about escaping from a prison. I saw the film first, and every detail from the book is in it. I loved it, and will definitely read it again. ( )

I don't think I can even do justice to this story in a review. It is simply an awesome story and suprisingly, the movie is almost better. ( )

beautifully told story of persistance under pressure ( )