Rage

Frequently asked questions

• What is Rage about?

  A high school student named Charlie Decker shoots his algebra teacher and then holds his class hostage. As the standoff continues, Charlie talks to his classmates—and the group dynamic transforms in ways the police outside cannot anticipate. The novel is structured as a psychological study of the hostage situation from inside the room.

• When was Rage first published and under what name?

  Rage was first published in 1977 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, making it the first of the Bachman books. It was written while King was still a college student in the early 1970s and represents one of his earliest completed novels.

• Why did King take Rage out of print?

  After several school shootings in the 1990s—including the 1997 Pearl, Mississippi school shooting—in which perpetrators were found to have copies of Rage, King asked his publisher to let the book go out of print. He has said he believes the book may have functioned as a validation script for disturbed readers and that it did not need to remain available. It is no longer commercially published.

• Is Rage still obtainable?

  Rage is not in commercial print and King has specifically asked that it not be reprinted. Used copies and the original Bachman Books omnibus that included it remain available through secondhand markets. King has stated clearly that he will not authorize a new edition.