Roadwork Formats: Hardcover First Edition Release Date: 1981
Synopsis:
Barton Dawes’ unremarkable but comfortable existence suddenly takes a turn for the worst. Highway construction puts him out of work and simultaneously forces him out of his home. Dawes isn’t the sort of man who will take an insult of this magnitude lying down. His single-minded determination to fight the inevitable course of progress drives his wife and friends away while he tries to face down the uncaring bureaucracy that has destroyed his once comfortable life.
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Community Thoughts:
Posted By: RDupea - 12/11/2008 - 10:05 AM EST
Roadwork is my favorite King novel. I am suprised it does not get more attention. I first read the story in high school when it came out with three other Bachman novels. I find Bart to be a very sympathetic character (with the exception of what appears to be an underlying distaste for unions), and the fruitless yet noble attempt to stop a personal injustice is compelling. In fact, along with Running Man, there seems to be a thread of the lone radical against an oppresive government within the Bachman books. I suppose this could also be said for The Long Walk, yet that story is often lost in personal dialogue. This theme seems to be lost in some later stories, however, I am reading Just After Sunset now (working on Stationary Bike - very good tale) and maybe there will be political comment. Anyway, I guess it is my hope that another who enjoyed Roadwork will see there are fellow travelers.
Posted By: Goes - 08/08/2008 - 12:36 PM EST
Without a doubt, his best work. Not only a triumph in the context of King/Bachman fiction, but in my opinion this is better than many 20th century canonical writers such as Fitzgerald.
