Small World

by Tabitha King

From personal private collection. Copyright 1981 by Tabitha King, Stephen King's wife. First Signet Printing March 1982. (7 8 9 10 9 10 11 12 13) . Has some creases on spine & cover, binding is good and tight, pages are clean and intact, Light tanning. Light shelve wear on cover. No writing inside book.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror Thriller

312 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Tabitha King is an American author. She is married to author Stephen King and is the mother of Joe Hill, Owen King, and Naomi King.

King was born Tabitha Jane-Frances Spruce in Old Town, Maine to Raymond George and Sarah Jane White Spruce and is one of eight children. Her primary education took place at St. Mary’s Grammar in Old Town, from which she graduated in 1963. She then attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor until 1967, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in history in 1971 from the University of Maine in Orono.

Reviews

[Trudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this book 4.5 stars just for sheer originality, overall weirdness and supreme creepiness. The book totally enthralled me at every turn and I love that I didn’t know where it was going to go, or how far. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve read anything by Tabitha King and after reading Small World, I really wish she had written more.

There’s such bite and ferocity to this story – a hell hath no fury feminine version of The Incredible Shrinking Man. It smacks of pulpy drama, and would have made an awesome Twilight Zone or Night Gallery episode. I can just hear Rod Serling now:

Our first painting submitted for your approval is a bizarre landscape cast in miniature. You won’t find this particular item of real estate advertised in any classifieds. There’s light and heat and running water, and the furnishings are luxurious - if a little small.

[Melina Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resenha completa: https://youtu.be/zIRSutsVOS8
Adorei conhecer o trabalho da Tabitha King.
Uma história bem interessante e perturbadora. A leitura não foi tão rápida quanto eu imaginei que seria, mas adorei cada vez que peguei o livro para ler. Depois vou falar mais sobre ele em um vídeo :)

[Tressa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the first Tabitha King books I ever read, and it's a doozy. I've always had a childhood fascination with miniatures--people, furniture, houses--and this horror/scifi book let me indulge my fantasies of possessing one. But I would treat my little person much better than the man did in this book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

So you all know how I love Uncle Steve, therefore I have always been really curious about the novels that his wife has written. My friend Ian , a book dealer, gave me a copy of Small World by Tabitha King and all I have to say is wow. She is a phenomenal writer, her prose flows like conversation. The story is a completely original idea, and I was sure there weren't any left. She also has that rare ability to bring a story to life; living, breathing, running around life. I'd shut the book and feel like one of her lunatic creations was sitting next to me on the couch. She also references The Shining about half way in, which ties all the fun up with a bow. Recommend!

[Dez Nemec · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant momma's boy decides to continue the project which the government first hired and then fired him for - creating a devise that would minimize anything. And then, apparently because he has mommy issues and a masochistic streak, he reaches out to former first child Dorothy "Don't Call Me Dolly" Hardesty Douglas, who makes him her boy-toy/slave/minimizing bitch. They start out by minimizing the Carousel in Central Park, and things just get more complicated from there.

Wow, this was so good! This is the third book I've read by King, and I've thoroughly enjoyed all of them. She doesn't always write what I typically go to, but this was definitely more along the lines of her husband's work. She seems readily adept at relationships, no matter how dysfunctional they are. And this one was just so weird, it was hard not to enjoy it. This was a great read.


And for all you people talking about not liking it because of the science...seriously?! This is FICTION. No, there is no real shrinking machine. It's not like she attempted to make up all kids of scientific bullshit to justify how he did it, she just briefly describes it. Stop being idiots. If you are looking for instructions on how to shrink your enemies, this is not the correct venue.

[Alex (The Bookubus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover art and synopsis present this novel as being about Leyna who is shrunk to a miniature size and kept captive by persons unknown, and while this is part of the story it’s more about the people who have acted out this crazy undertaking, plus some other characters, than Leyna herself. The synopsis also makes out that this book is more sexual than it actually is. There is the occasional content of that sort but it’s probably only about 1% of the whole book so prepare to be disappointed if that’s what you were expecting!

The concept here is very interesting but the idea of a miniaturisation device being created and used in such reckless fashion could have made for a much wilder ride than it ended up being. There are moments of greatness but I wish it had leaned in more to the pulpiness rather than focusing on the day to day actions of the otherwise fairly uninteresting characters. That said, I did like the female characters and thought that maybe the author had something to say on themes of femininity and feminism although I’m not sure exactly what it was because I felt like it got lost in the story.

Overall I’d say that despite some great moments this novel didn’t quite live up to the concept. I do think it ended in quite a satisfactory way though.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads like your average pulp crime novel, but the plot really grew on me. I've always been into miniatures, and I loved the sci fi twist. I was wondering why it hadn't been done before. Creative, but not a big leap if you were into dollhouses when you were a kid.
I found myself wondering what it would've been like if her husband had written it. : )

[Jersy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty dated, but it's also such a fun and fast read. A perfect summer or travel read but also comicly dark. In a way, Tabitha writes more coarse and bawdy than her husband did at the time, at least when he wasn't writing under his pseudonym, but it's only tipping it toes into true horror. The concept has a bit of a B-movie flair and the author really has fun playing around with ideas, but the woman really can write. It's well paced, characters are established nicely and the story structure just works. I personally really liked everything around the miniatures and had fun with the dynamic between Dolly and Roger, but I didn't care for all the stereotypes and some character conflicts used in this. I wasn't fully sold on the book, but it was really fun.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tabitha King is the wife of Stephen King - you may have heard of him - but this is the only one of her books which coulkd be classified as horror so far as I know. A female jogger is captured and shrunk by a mad scientist who keeps her in some sort of miniature environment. I read this so many yeaars ago that I remember few of the details except that while it's not as nightmarish as her husband's work, it's nightmarish enough, and also shows that she's no slouch in the writing department either.

[Kandice · Rating 4 out of 5]

First a small rant. This is the third book of Tabitha King's I've read that has been littered with typos. As I said when mentioning it before, this is not her fault. This is the editor/publisher's fault. I think her writing is top notch, but this lack of care on the part of those doing the actual publishing makes it seem as if they do not feel the same way. I'm not in the publishing business, but because the edition I read was a paperback, this feels like a more serious crime than the two hardbacks in which I found all the typos before. Shouldn't they have been caught in the hardback and fixed by now?

On to the story.

This was a great story told in the quintessential late 70's/early 80's voice. No explanation for the technology. King simply expects us to accept it. I did. Women coming into their own and being absolutely bad ass, self-sufficient beings. Wealth along the lines of Dallas and Dynasty, and despite only a few descriptions of such, you just know as you read that the women have big hair, bold makeup, lacquered lips and nails, and always wear hose and high heels.

The story is about miniaturization. Doll houses and the small things required to furnish them really took off in the late 70's. This is a peek into the lives of those that could afford to indulge in this hobby, as well as those that did the work that made that possible.

King is very, very good at writing somewhat complicated relationships without long, drawn out, dwelling passages describing feelings. Her books are written without sentimentality. I really love that. Here, Dolly, the middle aged (despite being described as old!) daughter of a former president, is an avid miniature collector. She comes across the path of a former government scientist that has perfected a miniaturization machine, which Dolly uses wealth and sex to gain access to.

Of course there are complicated relationships as mentioned above, as well as real descriptions of the D.C. political landscape of the time despite the characters all being fictional, but the meat of the tale is depravity. The ability for the haves to lord over the have-nots, and to never once apologize, feel remorse, or even regret. The framework of the tale (the miniaturization) is fun, but the meat is why I read King. Social commentary at it's finest.

The ending felt a bit rushed, but that's forgivable in light of what preceded it.

[Plagued by Visions · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a 2.75⭐️? Rounded up to 3.

[Debra]

Stephen King's wife. Stephen King recommended book as noted in Chapter 9 of Berkley's 1983 paperback edition of Danse Macabre.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I liked all the wrong parts of this book. And that's about all I want to say about that!

[Ga.selle (Semi-hiatus) Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She sat bolt upright in the bed and opened her mouth. Her throat was paralyzed; she could only make a kind of piteous mewing. And then the Hand, a hand as big as she was, bigger than her bed, reaching in.
The scream she had been trying to scream tore from her throat. She covered her eyes."

-imagine waking up one day and you alarmingly discovered you've shrunk considerably in size and imprisoned inside a dollhouse much to your horror and dismay. You are at your captors' mercy and entertainment. This was not perfect but an enjoyable read, at least for me, since I find the whole 'Honey, I shrunk the kids' premise or plot fascinating and am able to suspend my disbelief 🫢

💃Much thanks to UnlimitedEbooks app for this copy. I'm quite bummed that I used to own a paperback copy of this years back and have lost it and have not had the chance to read it back then.


E-📖

[Carl Alves · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping that I would enjoy this novel since it was written by the wife of my all-time favorite author. Unfortunately, I was terribly disappointed by it. For one thing, I didn’t find this story to be particularly well written. The writing seemed subpar and unprofessional. The story also doesn’t make a bit of sense. The general plot is that a woman shrinks and finds herself in a child’s dollhouse. Despite all evidence to support this, she has a really hard time believing this and thinks she is crazy. For one thing, the things inside of the dollhouse wouldn’t look real. They would look like life-sized items that go into a dollhouse. The story tended to meander. There was no coherency. As I was reading this, I just wanted it to end. I would skip this novel.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street

[Completely Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 3.75 stars. It was interesting. To hear my full thoughts on this one, stay tuned for my August 2020 Wrap Up Vlog on my YouTube channel called Completely Melanie.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. A departure from her other books, and an interesting premise:device that can shrink people and things, wielded by an emotionally stunted geek, and an angry, jealous, aging debutante. Unfortunately, the book alternates from a story about the geek and his older paramour, and a story about their shrunken captive media celebrity, with the very interesting aspect of the "little woman's" point of view being relegated to a lesser role. The author spends way too much time talking about her tiny victim's bathroom problems for my taste. The story does eventually wind to a decent conclusion, however. All in all not a bad book, just needed different/better development.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really think the only reason Tabitha King isn't more well known is because of her more famous husband. Sad.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this novel from a Cemetery Dance grab bag. The cover is beautiful but the novel itself didn't do a whole lot for me. I've tried to get into Tabitha King's work before and it just never hooks me. This one was alright so I might pick up another at some point. Something about her way of writing just gives me a headache though.
Anyway, solid mystery and decent plot. 3 stars if I'm being generous.

[Emanuela Siqueira · Rating 4 out of 5]

As transições de cenas, do macro para o micro, são muito bem feitas, um domínio incrível de narrativa fantástica fazendo a suspensão de descrença ser só um dispositivo banal.

[PostMortem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Въпреки леката предвидимост на сюжетната линия и бавното начало, историята се разгръща добре и става увлекателна. За жалост, финалът ми се стори малко кратичък, особено на фона на обема от 367 страници.

Накратко, четивна история, в която има лек полъх на Кинг, (неизбежно е) без да е гениална, но и без да е скучна.

Не съм чел друго на Табита, така че не мога да сравнявам или да давам по-цялостни оценки.

[Vicki Schmook · Rating 3 out of 5]

slow beginning, the first 100 pages were a struggle, but I kept going because the idea of someone being shrink to dollhouse size intrigued me. 80 pages from the end, I wondered how there was so much book left, and 60 pages later, wondered how it would be wrapped up so quickly. I wasn't excited by the ending.

I liked the story overall. It was definitely interesting reading a book that was VERY contemporary when published in 1981, therefore showing big differences in lifestyles from then to now.

[Maria Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Que coisa de louco. Eu ganhei esse livro de uma pessoa muito especial para mim, depois de tanto reforçar o quanto eu queria lê-lo, e por esse motivo, eu queria muito ter gostado dele, porém não foi dessa vez. O livro é muito arrastado. Sabe, aqueles livros que você lê e nem percebe que acabou? Enfim, foi o meu caso. Não porque o livro é bom, mas porque não acontece nada e a trama é tão chata que você não percebe que o livro está acabando. Além de que, chegou um momento que eu me sentia obrigada a ler o livro só para ele acabar mesmo, sério, ele ficou na minha prateleira um tempão por umas duas semanas intocado desde que eu comecei a ler ele, simplesmente, porque eu não tinha o mínimo de ânimo para lê-lo, além da minha ressaca que se agravou com esse livro. Eu tinha que ler o livro em um local sem barulho e totalmente sem distrações e mesmo assim haviam momentos em que eu não conseguia me concentrar 100% no livro... Os capítulos eram enormes o que só agravava a situação. O livro é muito detalhista e foca muito em coisas desnecessárias para a trama, enquanto negligência coisas, realmente, importantes. A autora parecia ter uma fixação com comida porque em absolutamente todo parágrafo era hora da refeição para Leyna Shaw, e em todo parágrafo ela passava mal depois de comer, pelo amor de Deus, o que isso tinha de tão relevante na estória para ser alvo de tanto foco?! Além dos cigarros, que como foram citados em outras resenhas, sempre se faziam presentes no enredo. Além de tudo isso, o livro ainda conta com uma incoerência sem tamanho, Leyna Shaw ocupa cerca de 60% da estória, e eu cheguei a pensar que a autora queria que os leitores vissem ela como uma personagem de destaque, o que certamente aconteceu comigo, acontece que de uma hora para outra a autora se cansa da personagem e mata ela de uma hora para outra e sem motivo nenhum. Eu me pergunto se ela seria uma personagem que iria morrer sem propósito e sem acrescentar nada porque ela teve tanto destaque? Não tem lógica. Lembram que eu disse que a autora perde tempo com aspectos inúteis da estória enquanto negligência outros? Então, eu vi em outras resenhas pessoas falando que a autora não mostra como é o funcionamento do miniaturizador, o que é totalmente errado, pois a estória toda só acontece devido a existência desse objeto que a autora não detalha como deveria, além de que eu fiquei esperando que fosse abordado sobre o passado de Dolly. Por que ela odiava o ex marido morto? Como foi quando o filho morreu e como era a relação dela com ele? Qual era a relação dela com o pai? Como foi o caso que ela teve com o Nick? Essas foram questões que me chamaram atenção ao longo do enredo e que não foram abordadas pela autora, enquanto questões que não tinham nada a ver com a trama eram destacadas como Roger e a sua relação com a mãe, que não acrescentava em nada ao enredo... Como eu disse anteriormente, o livro é muito arrastado e não acontece nada de relevante ou de emocionante até o capítulo 15, que por sinal é o último, justo nesse capítulo, em que ocorre toda a emoção do livro, as coisas acontecem de forma muito rápida, sem sentido, e os problemas se desenrolam e se resolvem em dois parágrafos mal escritos. A única coisa que eu achei mais ou menos interessante e que me chamou atenção foi a última página porque eu achei a conclusão definitiva da estória bem peculiar e atípica, acho que os últimos 4 parágrafos merecem duas estrelas por terem sido melhores que o livro todo. Uma pena que a autora não tenha escrevido o livro como escreveu esses parágrafos. Enfim, não gostei do livro, não recomendo e não sei se algum dia teria coragem para ler de novo, uma pena porque esse livro tem uma estética linda, só não compensa em conteúdo.

[Adam Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

VERY impressive debut. Being such a longtime fan of her husband, I'd been anxious to read Tabitha for many years. I own "One on One," but I'm a purist and like to start from the beginning. Stephen has claimed at times that Tabitha is a better writer than he is, and judging her work from a more literary perspective (as opposed to pop genre work), she is. Her suspense writing here is like Peter Straub's, only more immediately accessible. You don't have to hang in there too long to see where she's taking you, and even if there is some mystery to it, you more quickly begin to enjoy the journey than you often do with Straub. I liked the characters. I liked the intricate plotting, the surreal spin she has on the "shrinking/shrunken man/woman" device. There is genuine horror in this book, but more of a psychological than a gut-churning sort. The ending has an unspeakable twist that is rendered unspeakably hopeful by its final few pages. I was very satisfied with the journey this took me on. It's been a few weeks since I finished it, but the impact has stuck with me.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Small World (Das Puppenhaus) ist Tabitha Kings erster Roman. Im Zentrum steht eine egozentrische missgünstige Millionärin, die sich auf eine sexuelle Beziehung mit einem Muttersöhnchen-Mad Scientist einlässt, um mit dessen Erfindung, einem Verkleinerer, ihre Puppenhaussammlung mit kostbaren Miniaturen auszustatten. Doch verkleinert sie nicht nur Schmuck, Möbel und anderes Interieur...
Als kurze, skurrile Erzählung im Stile eines Roald Dahl wäre die Idee durchgegangen. Einen 300-Seiten-Roman trägt die Idee jedoch nicht, und es gelingt für meinen Geschmack der Autorin nicht, den Leser eng an die Handlung zu binden. Das liegt zum einen an Schwächen im Aufbau, an Protagonisten, die mir eigenartig unsympathisch und fremd bleiben, es liegt an offenkundigen Logikfehlern betreffs die Verkleinerungen, und es liegt an der unansprechenden Erzählweise, die möglicherweise durch die Übersetzung zusätzlich gelitten hat.
Ein schwacher Roman, den ich auch Genreliebhabern nicht empfehlen kann.

[Darleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh goodness i TOTALLY forgot that i read this like a billion and a half year's ago. ( Thanx Kim ) i prob still have my copy around here somewhere ( footsteps echoing, Darleen is lookin around the mess of her house wonderin where the book may be?? Mixed in with the chaos?? Perhaps under the bed smelling like Jean Nate'??) anyway's i do think i enjoyed the book. Not sure as i can't member past 8 min's ago....hahaha

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read nearly everything written by her husband, Stephen, and her son, Joe Hill. I thought there was more talent in the family to be discovered. However, I could not get into this book. There were several stories but I couldn't see how they were going to join together and didn't care about any of the characters. I only read 50 pages but I might try again with one of her more recent novels.

[Randy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot isn't half-bad. But I could never quite suspend my disbelief in terms of the science involved.

[Gypsykat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad at all, for a first novel! If you're into doll houses & miniatures, then you'll drool over this story, because that is the theme from start to finish & every little part inbetween!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy and clever.