Fair Extension

Beautiful people,

Here at Whiskey Before Breakfast, we understand the importance of balancing work and leisure.  Even though Zach and I have retreated to the coast for a brief sabbatical, we still intend to make your visit to our blog worthwhile.  So while you recline at your desk and casually entertain yourself with this short missive, please remember that we risked sunburn, rip currents, and sharks to bring this to you.

While on the road, Zach and I selected a book on CD from the wide array of entertainment options available to travelers these days.  After extensive deliberation, we opted for Full Dark, No Stars, one of our favorite Stephen King short story selections.  In particular, we listened to "Fair Extension," the shortest of these short stories.

"Fair Extension" begins with Dave Streeter, a man dying of lung cancer.  While driving home, he stops to talk to a salesman named George Elvid, who claims to sell "extensions."  If you want more money, beauty, happiness, power, etc., you can obtain an extension from Mr. Elvid.  However, there is a catch: to gain more of something, you have to take it from someone you know.  After some consideration, Streeter makes a deal with Elvid: he gets a life extension of fifteen prosperous, happy years, if he gives Elvid 15% of his salary and transfers all of his unhappiness and misfortune onto his childhood friend, Tom Goodhugh, who married Streeter's high school girlfriend and has experienced good luck all his life (often at Streeter's expense).  

The rest of the story reads fairly quickly, almost like a grocery list.  Streeter's cancer disappears, and his life begins accelerating in a positive direction.  His marriage improves, he gets promoted, and his children become wealthy and successful.  Conversely, Tom Goodhugh's life takes a drastic turn for the worse.  His wife dies of cancer, his children endure seemingly random tragedies, his health deteriorates, and his money drains away.  At the end of the story, Streeter and his wife are stargazing and contemplating their good fortune.  The planet Venus appears in the night sky, and Streeter asks his wife to make a wish.  She admits that she can't think of anything, because they have everything that they've ever wanted or needed.  Streeter then makes a silent wish--for more.

"Fair Extension" begins like a typical morality tale.  Someone makes a deal with the devil (Elvid = Devil--we see you, Steve) and goes on to experience the consequences.  "Fair Extension" deviates from this structure, in that Streeter's deal with the devil doesn't backfire in a contrapasso kind of way.  As Elvid says, "I'm just a businessman."  Streeter makes a casual business exchange, and then watches his own life improve while his friend's life falls apart.  Unlike traditional morality plays, "Fair Extension" isn't warning people about the dangers of "making a deal with the devil."  Instead, Stephen King is showing that the worst sins don't come from the devil, they come from within ourselves.  It's disturbingly easy to trade another person's suffering for your own personal gain, if granted that power.

I also had the vague notion that King was satirizing American religion in this story.  If you shake hands with God and give Him enough money, you'll be loaded with blessings, and you're not obligated to really care about your fellow man, because his life is "between him and God," and doesn't concern you.  Or something like that.

Once again, Stephen King opens the lid on human nature and shows us who we really are.  This story is pretty short (~30 pages) and is definitely worth your time.  For those of you who are taking a road trip or going on vacation, Full Dark, No Stars is a great choice for an entertaining, interesting read.

~Spence