If memory servers me right, the year was 1997 when I bought that book. I was in my college sophomore (I remember it because I dropped out Engineering Mechanics and have that book to blame. :)
It was very fortunate that I enjoyed that book very much. As far as I can recall, I never found any dull or boring 'scene' from the pages of that book. I think if I picked Gerald's Game then, that could have been my first and last Stephen King book (least of my fave... Dark Tower rocks!)