The provided text is an excerpt from the novel Joyland by Stephen King, which focuses on a narrator, Devin Jones, recounting his "lost year" of 1973 working at an amusement park while dealing with his first broken heart. The narrative describes Devin's summer job at the park, his interactions with coworkers like the psychic Madame Fortuna and the ride-jock Lane Hardy, and his later investigation into a past murder at the park's haunted attraction. Interspersed with the fictional narrative are editorial reviews praising King’s work, copyright information, and the table of contents for the book, establishing the text as a published crime novel with supernatural elements. The story follows Devin's personal growth and his eventual confrontation with the "Carny Killer" during a hurricane, leading to the resolution of both his personal issues and the murder mystery.