Better than the alternative! ;)
A couple of years back, I read As I Lay Dying for the heck of it. I enjoyed it, but I remember thinking "if they'd made me read this in high school, I'd have gouged my own eyes out."
I never thought I would read a post that began "this is the best fictional book I have ever read" and continued with a discussion of My Little Pony. :)
You're probably thinking of The Long Walk, one of his Richard Bachman novels (not a short story).
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Stephen-King/dp/0451196716
Interesting to consider the way this book foreshadowed a lot of dystopian YA stories (e.g., The Hunger Games or Battle Royale), decades...
I recently finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I was curious, since I loved the movie. The novel was quite similar for the most part, which was not surprising since the author of the book wrote & directed the film.
I'm currently reading this, which is as hilarious (and informative!) as...