Vic has fond memories of the Camber yard Joe fixed his car well, and Tad had fun playing with the sweet and gentle Cujo all afternoon. Just before he leaves, Vic advises Donna to take her car to Joe Camber’s yard to get it fixed before it breaks down for good. He still plans to take the trip and promises Donna that while he’s away he’ll decide whether he’ll stay with her. Vic and Donna argue about the affair a few nights before Vic leaves on his trip. Kemp then leaves Maine, gleeful that he has likely destroyed Donna’s marriage. A disgruntled Kemp, however, sends her husband a letter with intimate details about Donna to reveal that they had an affair.

She cheated on Vic with a local artist named Steve Kemp but breaks it off before Vic leaves on his trip. Vic’s wife, Donna, has not adapted well to the move to Castle Rock. Vic and Roger fear that their ad agency could close for good if they lose the Sharp account and want to travel to meet their client and brainstorm solutions.

Their largest client, Sharp Cereals, released a faulty batch of product that has caused minor health problems nationwide.

The two men run an advertising firm out of Maine, having recently moved to the state from New York. Meanwhile, Vic Trenton is planning a work trip with his business partner, Roger. As Joe jokes with Gary, Cujo silently grows sicker. Joe tells his friend, Gary Pervier, about Charity’s trip and his own plans to visit Boston while she’s away. Once Joe learns about Charity’s money, he allows her and Brett to go on the trip. Joe’s wife, Charity, recently won the lottery, and she gets up the nerve to ask her abusive husband for permission to take their son, Brett, to Connecticut to visit family. Cujo runs away in panic, having unwittingly contracted rabies.Ĭujo’s owner is Joe Camber, who runs Castle Rock’s auto repair shop. He awakens a swarm of bats, which attack him and scratch his snout. Bernard named Cujo chases a rabbit into a hole and gets stuck. Though his parents, Donna and Vic, assure him that the monster isn’t real, Tad is unconvinced. Aunt Evvie’s concerns scare young Tad Trenton, who continually wakes up in fright to a growling monster hiding in his closet. It’s an especially hot summer, one that the town’s oldest resident, Aunt Evvie, prophesizes will be evil and deadly. The citations in this study guide correspond to the 1982 Signet edition.Ĭontent Warning: Note that this novel depicts explicit acts of violence and refers to death by suicide.Ĭujo takes place in Castle Rock, Maine during the summer of 1980.

Cujo book covers