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

Great

One of the best stories and wonderful reading... Strongly suggest anyone who loves a good narrative.

A Twisted History

Stephen King is as always an excellent storyteller he could even make u feel sympathy 4 the devil.
It was a compelling story&an interesting idea.
But as always S. K. injects his political ideology&anti-religeous bias into his works, which is his right. But you don't have a right to ur own facts.
He laments our times, while lauding the past, yet refuses to acknowledge who's policies led us here, he laments the racism of the past, yet again fails to acknowldge who's policies supported that issue, and attacks, wh chaacter assassination , the very people who made that era better.

Awesome

This was an amazing story. Very detailed and the narrator was incredible. Highly recommend this to anyone.

I couldn't wait to drive to work

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

I looked forward to the drive to work (OK, I looked more towards the drive HOME) so I could continue the story. Based on a real time line and actual facts of Lee Harvey Oswalds life before the assasination, this story is riveting. Life in the 60's to a time traveler seems all good, except for the prevelence of cigarette smoke. How much of history would you change if you could return to the present and see your affect. Small changes have big effects.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jake handles time travel well, probaby better than most would. I shows the human side of individuals he knows will be villianized in history (Marina). I love that he used phrases from today...and the reaction of the characters in the 60's.

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

You could never listen to this in one sitting because of the length, but the story captures your attention enough that it is hard to turn it off.

Any additional comments?

The narrator helps the story so much by intonation, he is great!

Great Time Travel Adventure

I really enjoy time travel movies and books. Being a long time Stephen King fan I was happy to see him venture into this area. I have read a few of his over the last couple of years I was not impressed with so my expectations were not real high. After a few minutes into this my wife and I were hooked. A great piece of work with an alternative spin on the typical time travel stories. We found it to be suspenseful and very enjoyable all the way through. It made our daily commute go very fast. Throw in the JFK angle and you have something that is very interesting. You end up caring about the characters and what happens to them. It has enough twists for some nice surprises. Craig Wasson does an excellent job at the narration. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good fiction novel.

Stephen King wrote a love story!

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

The best story I have listened to.

Which scene was your favorite?

The dancing and love story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

What every woman needs from her partner.

Great book, loved it!!

The narrating was amazing, all the voices were so good, I could totally picture the characters. Couldn't put it down.

i have to write a heading? why?

this narrator is amazing! could be a kennedy impersonator. loved the book. i highly reccomend

I just finished 11-22-63 on 01-12-12

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

Craig Wasson's reading was fantastic. But I can't just leave it at that. Reading outloud is an art. Not everyone can do it. You have to know so many things and training can help, that's a fact. Experience makes it better yet. However, for truly awesome reading, it takes talent. And this...this is something Mr. Wasson has boat loads of. Believe me.

Oh course his diction was good. That along with speed is so important. Nothing worse than trying to hear what another is saying if their words are not enunciated well or if somebody is talking so fast the words whiz by in a blur. Plus, the way he did his regional accents...from Maine to Texas, his voice inflections, the ability to switch from male to female, old to young with ease made it seem like more than one reader was present.

I don't want to write a novel about this. Yet, to skip over Mr. Wasson's hard work which made this book so enjoyable to me would be a shame. I want all the readers who are considering buying this story to know that you can have complete faith that the reader of this audiobook is going to be good. I have passed up purchasing other audiobooks on this site just because the reader was given negative reviews. That's how much it means to me.

For author's: Take note. If you are going to turn your book into an audiobook, make sure who your reader is going to be. Hand pick them. Listen to their work first. It can make all the difference in the world.

Listening to a book on tape or in this case an audiobook on my iPod is something I haven't done much of. At least not recently. So it was a rather new experience. One I wasn't sure I'd really like. It turned out to be really good. I'm going to do it much more often now.

Next time I might just pick up the book and read it myself for a different kind of experience. Both seem to be valuable in thier own right.

If you aren't sure you will like this book then ask yourself some questions. Do you like sci-fi types of stories about time travel? Do you like books about history? Do you like stuff about JFK? Do you like romance novels and love stories? Do you like long books...books that take a long time to end? If you think you do - then I bet you'll like this one.

I'm a 58 yr. old woman. I can remember the day JFK got murdered. I was in the 4th grade. So I can remember that period in time and it was nice to go back there for a bit. I have wondered what would the world be like if our President didn't die then - if he had lived and continued on. Would our life be better now? Would this country be better?

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the fact that so many time periods were described. I liked that there were so many characters. So much detail. It would be easier for me to talk about what I didn't like because those things were few.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene's that were the most riveting for me were the ones right before and during the assassination. I won't elaborate because I think it's a shame to take away somebody else's listening excitement by telling too much.

My other favorites were the romantic parts with the characters of Sadie and George of course.

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

I did cry at the end of this. Normally I don't do this. I don't really know why I did. The only other book I've cried about was

Any additional comments?

To be honest I have not been a Stephen King

Best book-Stephen King- Best Naraton - Craig Wasso

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

top 5

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character can not be summed up as one. Stephen King has away of creating characters which intertwine so that they all are dramatic

What about Craig Wasson’s performance did you like?

Craig Wasson's performance was spot on. He was able to deliver this book in a fashion you could see and live each moment

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

This book will make everyone not only laugh, cry but also think