# Is "The Fisherman of (Misery co-winner context) — Misery" by Stephen King a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Fisherman of (Misery co-winner context) — Misery by Stephen King (Viking, 1987) is identified by: This is a duplicate placeholder of the primary Misery record and should be deduplicated downstream. The US Viking 1987 hardcover is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- This is a duplicate placeholder of the primary Misery record and should be deduplicated downstream
- For the underlying title: Viking hardcover, 1987; the first edition states First published in 1987 by Viking Penguin Inc. on the copyright page, with the jacket priced as issued
- Co-winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel for 1987 with Robert McCammon's Swan Song
- Publisher imprint reads Viking
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King |
| Publisher | Viking |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | This is a duplicate placeholder of the primary Misery record and should be deduplicated downstream |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
This is a duplicate placeholder of the primary Misery record and should be deduplicated downstream. For the underlying title: Viking hardcover, 1987; the first edition states First published in 1987 by Viking Penguin Inc. on the copyright page, with the jacket priced as issued. Co-winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel for 1987 with Robert McCammon's Swan Song.

## Is this the true first?
The US Viking 1987 hardcover is the true first. The garbled title field reflects that this row was injected only to flag the 1987 Stoker tie; it duplicates the main Misery entry and should be merged with it.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The book-club edition is blind-stamped on the rear board, lacks a jacket price, and does not carry the Viking Penguin first-published statement. Confirm the copyright-page statement and the priced first-state jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Fisherman of (Misery co-winner context) — Misery* by Stephen King a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-fisherman-of-misery-co-winner-context-misery
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.