Stephen King's The Green Mile was originally published in six monthly installments in 1996. It tells the story of a death-row supervisor named Paul Edgecombe, who one day encounters a prisoner with extraordinary powers named John Coffey. Inexplicably, Coffey has profound empathic and healing powers. For Edgecombe, this leads to a profound journey of discovery—one that involves Coffey, his story, and his powers, as well as Edgecombe himself.
The novel's format of monthly installments was modeled after the serial novel form that Charles Dickens employed in the 19th century. Stephen King was excited by the idea of experimenting with the serial novel, feeling it would lend itself well to suspense and thriller writing. As a child, King read the serial format and liked it because “it made the reader an almost equal participant with the writer—you had a whole week to try and figure out the next twist of the snake.”
King’s own experiment with the serial novel was highly successful. The suspenseful and haunting novel was a New York Times #1 bestseller. It also won the 1996 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, an award given for excellence in horror. The Boston Globe said of the novel, "King surpasses our expectations, leaves us spellbound and hungry for the next twist of plot.”
The Green Mile was published as a complete novel in 1997. The book was adapted for film in 1999, and the film version was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
