11-22-63

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Craig Wasson

Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back?

In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.

It begins with Jake Epping, a 35-year-old English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching GED classes. He asks his students to write about an event that changed their lives, and one essay blows him away: a gruesome, harrowing story about the night more than 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a sledgehammer. Reading the essay is a watershed moment for Jake, his life - like Harry’s, like America’s in 1963 - turning on a dime.

Not much later his friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. And Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession - to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson, in a different world - of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere. From the dank little city of Derry, Maine (where there’s Dunning business to conduct), to the warmhearted small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love, every turn is leading, eventually of course, to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and to Dallas, where the past becomes heart-stoppingly suspenseful - and where history might not be history anymore. Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying.

©2011 Stephen King. All Rights Reserved. (P)2011 Simon & Schuster, Inc

Amazing story!

Stephen King outdid himself! The interweaving of the story with what I recall of that time was wonderfully done.

WOW!!`

Would you consider the audio edition of 11-22-63 to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version but this is outstanding. I

What was one of the most memorable moments of 11-22-63?

The very last scene made me cry.

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

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it i too long for that.

Any additional comments?

I may become a King fan yet. I never would read his books since I m not a horror fan. And I thought that was all he wrote. This is not a horror story although there is horror here. I feel the book is a look at a past and future. A question of what might happen if what ifs were realized.
I like the pace of the book and it was the right length. I will try another.

11/22/63: More thought provoking than I expected

I must confess that it was the performance which captivated me in my choice of this book. From the sample bit, I decided that it sounded interesting and I really liked the reader. I would call him a true performer.

Of course, he had good material to work with, which helps. Both my husband and I read this, and enjoyed it first because it brought us back to childhood. The descriptions of how things looked, smelled, sounded and yes, tasted, were authentic! I think Mr. Wasson must have either lived through them, or had good stories about the times.

Time travel is always an interesting theme for a book. We are not sci-fi fans, but thought we'd give this a try because of the view of a friend. We both wish King did not insist on using profanity for the sake of it, as is his wont. There are times and polaces where it fit, and others where he seemed to look back and decided he hadn't thrown in four letter words in a while.

Niether my husband or I think of King as more than a very good trade fiction writer. But, this was definitely better than most. The characters came alive, and likely more so than if we had just read the book. Craig Wasson made each person important and unique. That is a true gift!

Both of us noticed King's abysmal overuse of the word Obdurate. It's a perfectly good word, but perhaps a trip to the dictionary for another word with similar meaning would have been good.

When I looked at the length of the book, I partially chose it because it was a lot of bang for the buck, or credit! My husband drives cross country, so Audible is his friend. But, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Kennedy era, and how life was lived then. This was not a typical horror novel, God be praised! The horrow is only in part of the final chapters. King did a very good job of looking at how changing an incident in time might have very surprising effects on the future.

Time travel is ever fascinating to we humans, as we seem to always wonder what would be different if only... This belongs as a must read for anyone who is interested in the theme. Craig Wasson was what took this book from very good to outstanding. Can't wait to read more of what he has read/performed.

Excellent Story!

It's Stephen King so it's obviously a great story. I just wanted to say that the narrator is one of the best I've ever heard.

Excellent story!

Excellent story which took me a while to finish, but always kept me engaged.

Awesome story

A snapshot in time that shows us things weren’t always the way we would like to remember them as.

Stephen King: What more can be said

A bit of a slow start but quickly changes tune. Science Fiction, horror, fantasy and detective novel all. Outstanding performance as well.

Could not Stop listing

Would you listen to 11-22-63 again? Why?

Yes, I would for sure listen to this book again. It had be from the moment I started till the very end.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I could not pick one character that was my favorite, I felt vested in all of them

Excellent Story - Will make you think....

Where does 11-22-63 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is in the top 5 audiobooks that I've listened to. I really loved the story. I loved how well-researched the story was. I found myself on-line frequently while listening to research the actual history. King does a great job of exploring the potential implications of time travel.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was definitely George/Jake. He seems so level-headed, positive, and good-natured that you trust him to do the job he set out to do. He's easy to root for.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was the end of the book. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but there's a sort of bittersweet ending.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book made me really think which is a huge positive for me. If I spend time laying awake at night pondering a story, that's the sign of a really great book. This book isn't a typical Stephen King horror. Instead, this book is optimistic, exciting, and very well researched and well-written. The only complaint I have is about the narrator. He did an excellent job, I just think he was an unusual choice. The main character in the story is supposed to be 35 and the narrator's voice makes him sound older. I kept forgetting he was only supposed to be 35. However, despite the mental block of thinking he sounded older, he did a great job. His northern accents were great. The only voice that really annoyed me was his voice for Sadie. However, the story was compelling enough that I could overlook the terrible drawl. The way the narrator makes Sadie say "honey" was like nails on a chalkboard for me. But I just had to hear the end of the story. And I'm glad I stuck it out because it's one of the best books I've ever listened to.

Mixed Feelings

I have never read anything of Mr. King's before. I doubt I will again. I was mystified with this tale in the beginning. For all the hype about the connection to the Kennedy Assassination, it took forever to see how it did connect. I won't be a "spoiler" but the book had me hooked until the end. It did drag on and on but was truly worth it ...until the climax.

I have read several other time travel stories and this one had a very interesting twist to it that added all the more suspense and twists. The love story was delightful. The quirks of being from a different time period truly added a humorous and suspenseful dimension. He should have stuck with that. I was so disappointed by the final conclusion.

The narration was well done. There was a little bit of Maine, not much of Texas, but great differentiation between characters.