What do you think?
Rate this book
The King Is Dead: Stories
For the first time ever, a complete collection of short fiction the New York Times bestselling author of The Queen's Gambit
Walter Tevis is widely regarded as a master for both his gritty poolhall novels and his brilliant rendering of the world of competitive chess. This long overdue collection establishes Tevis's rightful place as a maestro of the short form, as well. Bringing together the 1981 short story collection Far From Home with a host of other previously unpublished stories from journals and magazines, this entertaining collection showcases Tevis's characteristic perceptiveness, empathy, and range.
In one story, a man receives a phone call from his future self and follows their instructions to unpreditcable, calamitous results. In another, a famous actor and a young actress showcase their talent for acting both on and off the stage. Here also are five short stories set in poolhalls, including one that features Fast Eddie Felson and another that was the basis for the novel The Hustler . Here also is his first fictional foray into chess, with a ranked chess player finding fellowship in the prison yard with another player.
In all of them, Tevis reminds again and again why his writing has long been revered for its roving curiosity and innate humanity.
Walter Tevis is widely regarded as a master for both his gritty poolhall novels and his brilliant rendering of the world of competitive chess. This long overdue collection establishes Tevis's rightful place as a maestro of the short form, as well. Bringing together the 1981 short story collection Far From Home with a host of other previously unpublished stories from journals and magazines, this entertaining collection showcases Tevis's characteristic perceptiveness, empathy, and range.
In one story, a man receives a phone call from his future self and follows their instructions to unpreditcable, calamitous results. In another, a famous actor and a young actress showcase their talent for acting both on and off the stage. Here also are five short stories set in poolhalls, including one that features Fast Eddie Felson and another that was the basis for the novel The Hustler . Here also is his first fictional foray into chess, with a ranked chess player finding fellowship in the prison yard with another player.
In all of them, Tevis reminds again and again why his writing has long been revered for its roving curiosity and innate humanity.
416 pages, Paperback
Published February 14, 2023
32 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
About the author
Walter Tevis
64 books1,316 followersWalter Stone Tevis was an American novelist and short story writer. Three of his six novels were adapted into major films: The Hustler, The Color of Money, and The Man Who Fell to Earth. The Queen's Gambit has also been adapted in 2020 into a 7-episode mini-series. His books have been translated into at least 18 languages.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 4, 2023
Walter Tevis is a name that was unfamiliar to me until last year, when I read "The Queen's Gambit." With the success of the Netflix show adapted from it (which I haven't seen), there is a renewed interest in his work, leading to reissues of his other novels (including "The Hustler," "The Color of Money," and "The Man Who Fell to Earth"), and the publication of this volume which collects all of his short stories from his career. Like any short-story collection, it's a bit hit-and-miss, but the overall quality of the collection makes it worth checking out.
"The King Is Dead" features all the stories that Tevis wrote over the length of his career, starting with his first efforts in the mid-Fifties and concluding with stories that he penned just before his death in 1984. There are a lot of stories about pool halls and chess players, which makes sense considering that he's best known for his novels about both subjects, but there are also quirky science-fiction stories that remind me a lot of Kurt Vonnegut (this would be excellently paired with Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey-house" story collection). Not every story worked for me, to be honest, but many of them did, and the trilogy of loosely connected stories that close it out ("A Visit from Mother," "Daddy," and the sequel-in-spirit "In Limbo") are Freudian tales of repressed familial lust and regret.
The pool hall stories, of hustlers and the hustled, are probably the main draw for readers familiar with his novel "The Hustler," and there's even a short version of what eventually became the novel and the film on which it's based (I'm familiar with the film, but I haven't read the book yet). There's a certain repetitiveness to the stories, because most feature someone about to gain the upper hand on their opponent until the last moment, when (surprise, surprise!) the hustler shines through and snatches victory from the clutches of defeat. But there are some variations on this theme that make them worthwhile to read. And I liked the science-fiction stories a lot, they've very Vonnegut-esque in their caustic humor and world-building. There are a couple of more domestic stories that, ultimately, reflect the mindset of a straight white male born in the late 1920's, and these don't hold up as well (though they do have some charm to them, "The Man from Budapest" especially). I'd say get this collection for the pool hall stories that have a bit more going on than just the usual "hustler gets hustled" twist, the science fiction stories, and the stories about chess. The concluding stories with Freudian overtones feel very much in the mold of Philip K. Dick, and I think they're interesting if a little disturbing. Nothing wrong with disturbing in literature, of course, but I'm just giving potential readers a head's-up.
I think it fair to say that I will be seeking out Walter Tevis's novels where I can find them (I imagine most if not all will be reissued in the wake of the "Queen's Gambit" success), and this is a very good find for anyone who is interested in reading short works from a neglected author from the twentieth century. I enjoyed it once I got into it, even if (as I said) some of the pool hall stories are repetitive. This is a fitting way to secure Walter Tevis's legacy as a writer of prose that deserves to be re-evaluated as among the finest of its time.
"The King Is Dead" features all the stories that Tevis wrote over the length of his career, starting with his first efforts in the mid-Fifties and concluding with stories that he penned just before his death in 1984. There are a lot of stories about pool halls and chess players, which makes sense considering that he's best known for his novels about both subjects, but there are also quirky science-fiction stories that remind me a lot of Kurt Vonnegut (this would be excellently paired with Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey-house" story collection). Not every story worked for me, to be honest, but many of them did, and the trilogy of loosely connected stories that close it out ("A Visit from Mother," "Daddy," and the sequel-in-spirit "In Limbo") are Freudian tales of repressed familial lust and regret.
The pool hall stories, of hustlers and the hustled, are probably the main draw for readers familiar with his novel "The Hustler," and there's even a short version of what eventually became the novel and the film on which it's based (I'm familiar with the film, but I haven't read the book yet). There's a certain repetitiveness to the stories, because most feature someone about to gain the upper hand on their opponent until the last moment, when (surprise, surprise!) the hustler shines through and snatches victory from the clutches of defeat. But there are some variations on this theme that make them worthwhile to read. And I liked the science-fiction stories a lot, they've very Vonnegut-esque in their caustic humor and world-building. There are a couple of more domestic stories that, ultimately, reflect the mindset of a straight white male born in the late 1920's, and these don't hold up as well (though they do have some charm to them, "The Man from Budapest" especially). I'd say get this collection for the pool hall stories that have a bit more going on than just the usual "hustler gets hustled" twist, the science fiction stories, and the stories about chess. The concluding stories with Freudian overtones feel very much in the mold of Philip K. Dick, and I think they're interesting if a little disturbing. Nothing wrong with disturbing in literature, of course, but I'm just giving potential readers a head's-up.
I think it fair to say that I will be seeking out Walter Tevis's novels where I can find them (I imagine most if not all will be reissued in the wake of the "Queen's Gambit" success), and this is a very good find for anyone who is interested in reading short works from a neglected author from the twentieth century. I enjoyed it once I got into it, even if (as I said) some of the pool hall stories are repetitive. This is a fitting way to secure Walter Tevis's legacy as a writer of prose that deserves to be re-evaluated as among the finest of its time.
March 23, 2023
Wonderfully written short stories, some haunting and others creepy. My favorites were the hustling stories, the terrifying A Short Ride in the Dark, and the Apotheosis of Myra. I recommend the audiobook.
Read
December 17, 2024Why I read it: Picked it up at a cool indie bookshop because I didn't realise this was a collection of stories. All the short story blurbs on the back cover seemed to me like they could conceivably all be the plot points of one very cool novel and I didn't read the back cover to the end, so I only found out these were short stories when I got home and started reading.
Thoughts: Really short review this time around, I think. Other than the last three stories, whose Oedipal content I admit I was simply not prepared for, I thoroughly enjoyed all of these stories. After reading this collection, I'm game to read more of this guy's work, because Walter Tevis has the undeniable skill of the closer. Every denouement, every closing paragraph, feels like a punchline to a joke. Some of the jokes are strange, some are too long, but the punchlines bring the whole thing together every single time. I do wonder what his longform writing is like.
The best stories are The Ifth of Oofth and Echo (exceptionally sexy punchline on this one), though surprisingly all the pool/chess hustling stories were super engaging, which was very, as I said, surprising...strange. I don't do sports, and I don't do stories where I need to know sports rules, but the pool stories were all...human interest pieces, I guess, character studies. Very very cool stuff.
Would I read more from this author: Yes.
Would I recommend it: Absolutely. I've already recommended it to two people.
Thoughts: Really short review this time around, I think. Other than the last three stories, whose Oedipal content I admit I was simply not prepared for, I thoroughly enjoyed all of these stories. After reading this collection, I'm game to read more of this guy's work, because Walter Tevis has the undeniable skill of the closer. Every denouement, every closing paragraph, feels like a punchline to a joke. Some of the jokes are strange, some are too long, but the punchlines bring the whole thing together every single time. I do wonder what his longform writing is like.
The best stories are The Ifth of Oofth and Echo (exceptionally sexy punchline on this one), though surprisingly all the pool/chess hustling stories were super engaging, which was very, as I said, surprising...strange. I don't do sports, and I don't do stories where I need to know sports rules, but the pool stories were all...human interest pieces, I guess, character studies. Very very cool stuff.
Would I read more from this author: Yes.
Would I recommend it: Absolutely. I've already recommended it to two people.
July 5, 2025
THE KING IS DEAD je knjiga u kojoj su sakupljene sve priče Waltera Tevisa. Za razliku od zbirke FAR FROM HOME koja je ipak fokusirana na fantastiku u najširem smislu, THE KING IS DEAD, sadrži tu zbirku i sve ostale priče i u tom pogledu bitno je napomenuti da zapravo ima samo jednu priču fantastike više.
I ta priča fantastike govori o izumu koji ne postoji u stvarnosti ali ne možemo govoriti u klasičnom smislu od SFu jer sam izum ima određeni uticaj samo na mikrozajednicu, i nije novum u klasičnom smislu, to jest to što tako nešto ne postoji u datom trenutku ne znači da je nemoguće da se proizvede.
Međutim, i kada se Tevis nalazi u realističkom prosedeu, opet je to visok nivo rukopisa i preciznosti izraza, u najboljem maniru američkih majstora kratke priče. Ono što je kod ove zbirke jedini problem jeste činjenica da ona sakuplja sve priče, i ima jedan niz recimo priča o pool hustlingu koje su veoma slične jedna drugoj. Kao što znamo, Tevis je pisao romane HUSTLER i COLOR OF MONEY, pa nije čudo da se tom temom bavio i u pričama koje su izlazile u raznim časopisima, ali kada su skupljene u jednoj zbirci (kako očigledno nisu mišljene da se čitaju) umeju da stvore utisak repetitivnosti.
Isto tako, kao autor bitnog "šahovskog" romana QUEEN'S GAMBIT po kom je nastala i čuvena Netflixova serija, roman ima i jednu šahovsku priču koja je zaista izvanredna, ali se stilski nadovezuje na ove o hustlingu što je evidentno bila Tevisova opsesivna tema.
Otud, THE KING IS DEAD kao zbirka svih priča deluje kao logičan izbor za kompletiste. Za one koje zanima samo fantastika, FAR FROM HOME je bolji izbor.
I ta priča fantastike govori o izumu koji ne postoji u stvarnosti ali ne možemo govoriti u klasičnom smislu od SFu jer sam izum ima određeni uticaj samo na mikrozajednicu, i nije novum u klasičnom smislu, to jest to što tako nešto ne postoji u datom trenutku ne znači da je nemoguće da se proizvede.
Međutim, i kada se Tevis nalazi u realističkom prosedeu, opet je to visok nivo rukopisa i preciznosti izraza, u najboljem maniru američkih majstora kratke priče. Ono što je kod ove zbirke jedini problem jeste činjenica da ona sakuplja sve priče, i ima jedan niz recimo priča o pool hustlingu koje su veoma slične jedna drugoj. Kao što znamo, Tevis je pisao romane HUSTLER i COLOR OF MONEY, pa nije čudo da se tom temom bavio i u pričama koje su izlazile u raznim časopisima, ali kada su skupljene u jednoj zbirci (kako očigledno nisu mišljene da se čitaju) umeju da stvore utisak repetitivnosti.
Isto tako, kao autor bitnog "šahovskog" romana QUEEN'S GAMBIT po kom je nastala i čuvena Netflixova serija, roman ima i jednu šahovsku priču koja je zaista izvanredna, ali se stilski nadovezuje na ove o hustlingu što je evidentno bila Tevisova opsesivna tema.
Otud, THE KING IS DEAD kao zbirka svih priča deluje kao logičan izbor za kompletiste. Za one koje zanima samo fantastika, FAR FROM HOME je bolji izbor.
July 4, 2023
I found most of these stories pretty interesting. There were a few in the middle - more romantic in nature - that didn't do too much for me, and the pool hustler ones started to have a certain sameness, but there weren't so many that I lost patience with them. The last three linked stories were - interesting. Kind of disturbing. I don't usually have a lot of patience with forewords to books, but I did find the foreword to this collection interesting, especially as they touched on those final three stories.
I think I had read "The Hustler" before - the story, not the book. I read the book recently and was surprised that it was different than I remembered it, but now I realize that I must have read the short story and not the book, and so it all makes sense. The story, "Rent Control," I actually remember reading in a magazine at a friend's house years ago. I recognized it almost right away.
A good collection.
I think I had read "The Hustler" before - the story, not the book. I read the book recently and was surprised that it was different than I remembered it, but now I realize that I must have read the short story and not the book, and so it all makes sense. The story, "Rent Control," I actually remember reading in a magazine at a friend's house years ago. I recognized it almost right away.
A good collection.
February 20, 2024
While I know people love to rave about "The Man Who Fell to Earth," I've always found Tevis's SF to be overrated. Not bad, but I suspect if you-know-who hadn't starred in the film adaptation, the book would just be another forgotten Gold Medal paperback.
But his stories about pool and chess ("The Hustler," "Queen's Gambit") are something else, brilliant and absolutely engrossing. And with game stories making up more than half the entries in this complete collection of Tevis's short fiction, you have an absolutely essential volume. The SF stories are OK, but every time the setting switches to a pool room or chess board, you know you're in for a money shot.
But his stories about pool and chess ("The Hustler," "Queen's Gambit") are something else, brilliant and absolutely engrossing. And with game stories making up more than half the entries in this complete collection of Tevis's short fiction, you have an absolutely essential volume. The SF stories are OK, but every time the setting switches to a pool room or chess board, you know you're in for a money shot.
December 31, 2024
Had read three Walter Tevis books before this one and loved them all. The Hustler, Colour of Money and the Queens Gambit. This one was started off superb for the first 3/4 of the book. If ended there it would have been a 5 stars read and my favourite book of the year. The last 1/4 had a few stories I was not keen on and a few which were just ok.
The book had some nice pool stories and some nice science fiction. The good ones are written lovely. Highly recommend this with the caveat that there are a couple of Turkeys amongst the diamonds.
The book had some nice pool stories and some nice science fiction. The good ones are written lovely. Highly recommend this with the caveat that there are a couple of Turkeys amongst the diamonds.
August 24, 2025
I don't really like short stories that much compared to full novels and especially compendiums that are out together retrospectively but maybe this is the exception that proves the rule.
There are about 25 stories on a few main subjects: pool, chess, sci-fi mainly. I love the pool ones and could read a whole book just of those. the sci-fi ideas are more hit and miss but very imaginative especially the bouncing ball.
I'm going to continue my way through Tevis's back catalogue as the expected diminishing returns are not diminishing very much
There are about 25 stories on a few main subjects: pool, chess, sci-fi mainly. I love the pool ones and could read a whole book just of those. the sci-fi ideas are more hit and miss but very imaginative especially the bouncing ball.
I'm going to continue my way through Tevis's back catalogue as the expected diminishing returns are not diminishing very much
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2025
The sci-fi stories are 5 stars; the pool hustling stories and chess story are 4 stars; the rest of the collection is 3 stars: so, I'd give THE KING IS DEAD a solid 4-star rating. The only thing that could have made this collection better, in my opinion, is if the stories had been annotated with dates and (if previously published) with place of publication. I'm curious, how widely read was this material, before Walter Tevis passed away? (Last thought: the Introduction is one of the best introductions to this type of collection that I have ever read! Kevin Brockmeier really knows his stuff!)
October 22, 2024
A collection of short stories from Walter Tevis of ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’, ‘The Hustler’, and ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ fame. A couple of good stories here, and lots of nice and readable ones, but nothing particularly special. Most of them are about pool hustling and while they are interesting, there is a point that they all seem much of a muchness. Still and all, enjoyable quick reads to be had here.
November 8, 2024
I love Walter Tevis’ speculative fiction and this short story collection had quite a few in that category. It also contained his trademark stories about pool and chess. Reading through this reminded me a little of reading the short stories of Stephen King. Tevis was a master storyteller like King. I’m sad that I’ve now reached the end of his works.
December 31, 2025
Really appreciated this anthology with its mix of themes and characters. Plenty of favourites come to mind even almost a year later. It was a wonderful mix of film noir settings, Twilight Zone episodes, and tales that thrill and amaze.
Do give it a shot!
Do give it a shot!
March 20, 2023
forgettable? or maybe i dont read enough short stories idk
did-not-finish
August 11, 2023Includes the following stories:
The Best in the Country
The Man from Chicago
The Big Hustle
Misleading Lady
The Hustler
The Stubbornest Man
The Ifth of Oofth
Operation Gold Brick
Sucker's Game
The Big Bounce
First Love
Far from Home
A Short Ride in the Dark: 3
The Man from Budapest
Gentle is the Gunman
The Machine that Hustled Pool
The Other End of the Line: 4
The Scholar's Disciple
The King is Dead
*Rent Control: 5
The Apotheosis of Myra
Echo
Out of Luck: 4
A Visit from Mother: 2
Daddy
Sitting in Limbo
The Best in the Country
The Man from Chicago
The Big Hustle
Misleading Lady
The Hustler
The Stubbornest Man
The Ifth of Oofth
Operation Gold Brick
Sucker's Game
The Big Bounce
First Love
Far from Home
A Short Ride in the Dark: 3
The Man from Budapest
Gentle is the Gunman
The Machine that Hustled Pool
The Other End of the Line: 4
The Scholar's Disciple
The King is Dead
*Rent Control: 5
The Apotheosis of Myra
Echo
Out of Luck: 4
A Visit from Mother: 2
Daddy
Sitting in Limbo
July 22, 2024
2.5 Stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2025
someone got hit by the Freudian stick!
September 18, 2024
I don’t write long reviews because I’m not a writer. These are great stories whether it be about playing pool or chess, but his sci-fi stories are probably my favorite because they’re real mindfucks.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews