<Tr> <Th> Media type </Th> <Td> Print (Paperback) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Green Mile is a 1996 serial novel by American writer Stephen King . It tells the story of death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe's encounter with John Coffey, an unusual inmate who displays inexplicable healing and empathetic abilities . The serial novel was originally released in six volumes before being republished as a single - volume work . The book is an example of magical realism . </P> <P> The Green Mile was first published in six low - priced paperback volumes . The first, subtitled The Two Dead Girls was published on March 28, 1996, with new volumes following monthly until the final volume, Coffey on the Mile, was released on August 29, 1996 . The novel was republished as a single paperback volume on May 5, 1997 . On October 3, 2000, the book was published in its first hardcover edition (ISBN 978 - 0743210898). In 2007, Subterranean Press released a 10th anniversary edition of the novel in three different versions, each mimicking the original six - volume release: the Gift Edition, limited to 2,000 copies, containing six unsigned hardcover volumes of each separate part, housed in a slipcase; the Limited Edition, limited to 148 numbered copies, and signed by Stephen King, housed in a slipcase; and the Lettered Edition, limited to 52 lettered copies, and signed by Stephen King, housed in a traycase . Every edition contained new illustrations by Mark Geyer, the novel's original illustrator . Each version had its own design, and cost $150, $900, and $2,500, respectively . There were other versions published as well, including a "pocketbook" sized hardcover by Paw Prints (ISBN 9781439182789). </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Title </Th> <Th> Date </Th> <Th> Length </Th> <Th> ISBN </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> The Two Dead Girls </Td> <Td> March 28, 1996 </Td> <Td> 92 pp </Td> <Td> ISBN 978 - 0451190499 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> The Mouse on the Mile </Td> <Td> April 25, 1996 </Td> <Td> 96 pp </Td> <Td> ISBN 978 - 0451190529 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Coffey's Hands </Td> <Td> May 30, 1996 </Td> <Td> 96 pp </Td> <Td> ISBN 978 - 0451190543 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix </Td> <Td> June 27, 1996 </Td> <Td> 96 pp </Td> <Td> ISBN 978 - 0451190550 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Night Journey </Td> <Td> July 25, 1996 </Td> <Td> 96 pp </Td> <Td> ISBN 978 - 0451190567 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Coffey on the Mile </Td> <Td> August 29, 1996 </Td> <Td> 144 pp </Td> <Td> ISBN 978 - 0451190574 </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What did john coffey do in the green mile