11.22.63

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Craig Wasson

Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

What if you could go back in time and change the course of history? What if the watershed moment you could change was the JFK assassination? 11.22.63, the date that Kennedy was shot - unless....

King takes his protagonist Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, 2011, on a fascinating journey back to 1958 - from a world of mobile phones and iPods to a new world of Elvis and JFK, of Plymouth Fury cars and Lindy Hopping, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake's life - a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

With extraordinary imaginative power, King weaves the social, political and popular culture of his baby-boom American generation into a devastating exercise in escalating suspense.

©2011 Stephen King (P)2011 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

“This new epic from Stephen King rates among the best he’s written – no small praise for the man who wrote Carrie, It, The Stand and Under the Dome.” ( Trucking News)

A brilliant piece of work.

I confess to not being a Stephen King fan, despite wading through a few superficially attractive works. I managed a sneak preview of this work and then went straight to audible.com.

This is a long story about time-travel and its perils and paradoxes and Mr King has excelled himself. Working initially on the somewhat unlikely premise that the world would have been a better place had JFK not been assassinated, the hero is a rather nice person who becomes hardened by experience. A port to the past or rabbit hole has been the secret of a hot-dog restaurant who has made slight changes to the past which have had no world-wide change but a cigar-chomping, old marine has terminal cancer and time is running out. Enter the hero Jake Epping, who eats at the old boy's premises and has become friendly. The dying marine has a burning ambition - to prevent that day in Dallas. He obviously cannot achieve the goal but youth, a growing empowerment and a couple of simple excursions to alter history slightly for the benefit of others,not himself, show him that time-travel has potential problems with history trying to be "obdurate" but he persists.

The death of his marine pal leaves him little choice and a moral dilemma. To say more would be to give some of the plot away and that is something I will not countenance because Mr King deserves every accolade possible for this work. I remember the 1950s well and he has it down pat, trading off the advantages of a cleaner time than 2011, although his hero certainly misses cell phones. The characterizations are finely drawn and thoroughly believable,, along with the premises of the plot.

I would go so far as to say that if you don't buy another book this year, this is the one - an absolute gem.

More than 1, I gasped - I didnt see THAT coming!

Would you listen to 11.22.63 again? Why?

I have listened to this book at least three times.

What other book might you compare 11.22.63 to and why?

Timeline

What about Craig Wasson’s performance did you like?

Fabulous

Any additional comments?

I have recommended it to my friends. It is one of my favourite books of all time.

You just cannot miss this book

This is the best audiobook I have ever listened to. Unfortunately now I think anything else will be dull but it is seriously worth it.
The narrator is excellent, I am not American but the accents give an idea of the different time and location.
The descriptions of the era are awesome, the scenes literally brought tears to my eyes.

amazing

Would you listen to 11.22.63 again? Why?

I don't normally bother writing reviews but I have to give credit to the narrator of this story was amazing......The story was compelling with a bucket load of characters and the narrator was flawless through out. I generally prefer reading bios and non fiction books but i would highly recommend this story to anyone at all one of kings best up there with " the Green mile"

What would you do?

Exceptionally well researched with believable, everyday characters involved in an "existence" changing plot. A beautiful love story set in dramatic times of which we are all aware with a perfect ending as well. I can't recommend this book enough.

I never imagined I would cry over a Stephen King novel but that was excactly what I did. This story kept me intriqued from beginning to end and I kept asking myself the same question over and over, 'What would you do?' I still don't know the answer but the story, climax and ending were much more than satisfactory.

I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre so haven't read much Stephen King but there is no way this would fall into that category. Having said that I believe that if you are a fan of Stephen King you will not be disappointed. Time travel it is, but in this book the horror is a very real concept. He is a wonderful storyteller.

Yes, it is longer than my normal audiobook but it was never boring. Every word was necessary to the story and the narration varied with the characters so it was good listening.

It doesn't stop with the story. You must listen to the afterword by Stephen King. Impressive!

Excellent!!! sai King

I dont often write review, but this book has just cost me two nights sleep, i could not stop listening to it.
The story construction was excellent, it really got the grey matter turning..
That said its not the typical Stephen King novel, horror was lacking which is a breath of fresh air.
Stephen King just shows what a truely great story teller he really is in this very long but highly enjoyable book.

This is the first time ive listened to the narrator, Craig Wasson was perfect, i now rate him among the best and will be looking for more titles he reads,
thankyou thankyou thankyou, now for some catch up sleep...

(Some) Fact by the master of fiction

Lately I have been struggling to listen through my audiobooks. I imagine many do, when "life" distracts. So each month another credit accrues, and most months I dutifully add another title in my library, full of good intentions; with the hit rate of actually listening (to the end) remarkably low right now (I should mention that the sure fire exception to this is any good sci-fi narrated by Will Wheaton, but I digress terribly).

This title ended my streak of strike-outs; I happily leant over to my wife one night to comment that good writing just demands listening, and no one can dispute that Stephen King is a good writer. He is a great writer, and even though this is not really a traditional book from him, it did his portfolio proud, I thought. I am somewhat interested by history but am by no means a boffin, yet I felt immersed in something important. The details filled this world and held my interest throughout, as much as the character-driven elements did, and I felt satisfied at the end of the listen. Recommended.

I listened to this one twice !

Any additional comments?

This book was fantastic. Absolutely loved it. The narrator has great skill , is very compelling. Made me cry a couple of times. Just awesome. Not a Stephen king horror book. Superbly written as usual from Mr King

Wonderful

If you could sum up 11.22.63 in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing, emotional, wonderful

Who was your favorite character and why?

I can't split Jake and Sadie, I loved them both.

Have you listened to any of Craig Wasson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was the first time, Craig Wasson did a great job.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved the whole book and don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but the last few chapters brought tears to my eyes.

Awesome!!!

I adored this audiobook. The plot sucked me in and the narration was fantastic, though I got to admit that the ending broke my heart.