11-22-63

A Novel

De: Stephen King

Narrado por: Craig Wasson

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

Time Travel, History & Stephen King: Wow!!

This is a great book with a fantastic narrator. A compelling story that keeps you mesmerized from the first word and won't let you go. I love time travel and I love history. While I am not always a Stephen King fan, he is a great author and knows how to tell a story. And he really tells this one very very well ... and Craig Wasson, the narrator, is as good as they get.

Time travel is not King's usual genre, but he has the skill to do a brilliant job in a form that is extremely demanding. Not only is the form demanding, but readers are demanding: science fiction aficionados are knowledgeable readers. We are a nit-picky audience. To my delight, I was thrilled with this book. King did his homework, both in the history and for the genre.

If you are a fan of time travel fiction where the history is the focus and not the technology (a la Connie Willis), you will love this, If you are looking for a more typical Stephen King horror story, well, you do get a taste of Derry, Maine and there is a creep factor, but this is much more science fiction/ time travel/ history than classic King. If you're looking for horror, this isn't it.

Above all, this is a brilliantly well written, carefully crafted, and well researched novel with excellent narration. Top grades all around.

Murder, the Past, Romance, Friendship, Time Travel

Mr. King does it again, another long book that holds the reader's interest throughout. The narrator did a fine job with this delightful story. The likable main character and his group of "besties" all live in the past and engage either knowingly or not in a plot to change the world as we now know it.
Jake/George, is a lovable all around good guy. The reader is taken in as we follow him and his special friend Sadie, who is as clumsy as she is beautiful.
The times seem quaint to us now, yet I remember this vibe having grown up in the 60's myself.
So enjoy and be prepared to either reminisce or be intrigued with the setting and the story.
I feel as though this author never disappoints.

Exceptional Stephen King!

What made the experience of listening to 11-22-63 the most enjoyable?

The narrator was exceptionally talentedt! The story was one of Stephen King's all-time best, in my opinion.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jake Epping, the protagonist. He is one of those great multi-dimensional characters that is so hard to portray in any story.

What about Craig Wasson’s performance did you like?

Voice characterizations were superb. I was caught up in the narration and story from the get-go and was enthralled until the very end.

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

Absolutely, but I didn't want it to end! That's how you tell a good story from a great one.

Any additional comments?

After many years of swearing off Stephen King (I'm not always happy with his story endings), I couldn't resist the many rave reviews about the novel and its ending. Consequently, I found out in the afterward that Joe Hill, Stephen King's son and author in his own right, helped with the ending.

Memorable and Satisfying

I've waited some time before writing this review. When I finished the audiobook, I was satisfied, but I wasn't sure it would last. After all, I had enjoyed every minute of the book. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next or how it would turn out. Maybe these were just superficial pleasures that would fade with time. I can confess that a month or so later, I can still recall much of what I heard. I wonder about what happened to the characters after they left me. I'm left thinking about my own place in the denouement of history. I think these are signs that 11-22-63: A Novel deserves a high rating.

Now, I ought to point out that I'm not a fan of Stephen King. I don't mean to say I dislike him personally or his writing. I just mean to say I'm not going to give it such a high rating because of who the author is. But he's done a great job with this book.

11-22-63: A Novel is a long listen, but I think it's all there for a reason. By the end, everything falls into place at least enough to understand what I needed to to be happy with the unraveling.

Wasson is masterful with the narration.

All in all, I have no reason to withhold the highest rating I can give. I recommend whole-heartedly that you take a look at this book and see if it appeals to you.

Don't miss this trip down the Rabbit Hole.

Last night at 2:30 AM I was crying, at 6:30 AM I laughed out loud and woke up the dog. No, I wasn't having a break down, at least not yet- I was listening to Stephen King's new book 11-22-63. Get the awards ready- to save time -just give them all to King. Out of 605 books I've downloaded from Audible since April 2005, this book is the best book, and Craig Wasson is the best narrator. I've never been a King fan, I love Literary Fiction, but the 'Time Travel' got me and I'm so glad it did. Considering the subject matter, this is not the right word -but wow-this a FUN book!

What perfect timing to be reading this book in Dallas 2011, traveling back in time with a school teacher to change history. "Come on George -only 2 more days to save JFK." On the day John F. Kennedy was shot, the 16 year old Stephen King was sitting in the back of a hearse- How Stephen King is that! I was 19, on the golf course at UNT. I've lived in Dallas all my life with all the ghosts -the School Book Depository, Dealey Plaza, President Kennedy's motorcade route, the Grassy Knoll, the Sixth Floor Museum. "Oh you're from Dallas where Kennedy was killed."

Who hasn't thought about a World where Kennedy lived? This book is that, and so much more. A love story, murder and the Maine town of Derry for the King devotees. I asked my husband if he wanted to listen to 11-22-63, he said, No, he didn't read Stephen King. That's what I thought. I was wrong. Don't miss this trip down the Rabbit Hole.

Good story, great performance, didn't like it

First and foremost, the actor who read this book did an overall incredible job. His accents were mostly very good, and his emotional reading was spectacular. While his impressions, and accents were caricatures more than impeccably accurate, that actually made the story more enjoyable. The one and only unforgivable accent was his Russian, which sounded more like a German accent and it was the worst Russian accent I've heard in a long time. Other than that he was great!

The story itself was good, and had some great moments. Stephen King is of course an amazing writer and the book focused mainly on an individual's story rather than a history lesson. Well there were many moments of the book that I enjoyed, and I actually like the characters, I didn't like the story. The main reason is simply a matter of taste. If I want a time traveling story, or a what if story, I want a lot more of a thorough logical prediction. This was not King's goal and I can't fault him for this but i was still disappointed.

Good book but I guess that I expect more from King

If you’ve listened to books by Stephen King before, how does this one compare?

I understand that King has wanted to write this book for some time and enjoyed his perspective on the pivotal moment of American history. However, the story can't hold up to his earlier works in quality or entertainment. One could say that I'm holding Mr King to a higher standard than other authors.

Any additional comments?

I'm sure that this book was a great undertaking for Mr King to research the events leading up to President Kennedy's assassination. However, I felt that the book was oddly constructed, even for a time-travel novel. Some time in the 'land of ago' with Jake seemed to drone on for much too long while other times we jumped right past a critical detail with hardly a mention of the events surrounding it. The love story angle was sweet but often stretched on longer than needed.
The entire premise of saving JFK and stopping all of the bad things that happened as a result of his death was a poorly constructed history, especially given the meticulous research conducted on the events leading to his assassination. JFK's position in the civil rights movement as president is widely recognized and his plans for how to handle the Vietnam mess are a topic of strong debate among historians. However, the 2012 view of JFK in the book sees his Vietnam views clearly and ignores his position/actions on civil rights as president.
I thought that the ending was decent but not incredible. It felt predictable though some details were clever. Some of the symbolism that foreshadowed things was too obvious and some details of the portal were not fleshed out in a satisfying manner.
I still recommend this book to anyone but the reviews on here led me to expect something a lot better than what the story can deliver.

Um... Perhaps an editor Mr. King?

Okay... I recommend this book, K? If you've got a gym-obsession, or bike/run/row a helluvalot... The length itself isn't an issue. But.. but... The first seventy percent flows like a crystal creek down the Green mountains of Vermont. Here' a cliché, King is to story telling like Hefner is to sex... He knows how to package the stuff in ways nobody else ever thought of.

But... but... there's that stretch between seventy percent of the way in and maybe eighty two percent when someone should have said, "Stephen.... COMPRESS THIS A LOT!"

Now in book form that problem's inconsequential... you just flip pages by the handful until the current breaks free and whips the water white. But on an MP3 device, you can't look for key landmarks among the paragraphs that blur by. Instead, you've just gotta' spin the FF dials. Strangely, by taking that leap, I got to the 83-85% place and really missed nothing of significance. Which an editor could have pointed out to the writer... If the writer wasn't complicit in clogging the flow?

Again, this novel's driven by an engaging premise, grand questions, memorable characters, and the reader tells it engagingly. But maybe... maybe... next time... An editor might just take a peek?

didn't expect a love sorry

didn't expect a love story. but I really enjoyed it. I learned about the past, as well.

The hype is justified

Stephen King's popularity gets him rave reviews every time he publishes a new title - so a seasoned reader is apt to brush some of those aside, knowing that popularity is not always a reliable measure of a book. In this case, the hype of all those devoted followers is right on the money. I listen to audiobooks all day, every day at work, in my car, and when falling asleep - when I get home from work I usually take the earbuds out and enjoy an evening of TV and "off leash" time from my iPod. This one had me so hooked I kept the earbuds in even when I had a DVR full of my favorite shows waiting for me - it's THAT good! This isn't a "horror" story - it's a story that answers a question that floats around inside all minds at some point in life "If I could go back in time and change history - would I?"