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11/22/63: A Novel Audiobook
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Plot Summary
It was a fateful day. On November 22, 1963 three shots rang out as President Kennedy rode through Dallas in his motorcade. His assassination changed the world. What if you could change it back?
In this brilliant, masterful novel, Stephen King – who represents the political, social and popular culture of his generation more thoroughly and with more imagination than any other author – takes readers and listeners on a remarkable odyssey into history and the possibility of changing it.
The story begins in Lisbon Falls, Maine, where 35 year old English teacher Jake Epping has a second job teaching GED classes. When he assigns his students an essay about a life changing event, one student blows him away with the horrifying tale of the night more than 50 years ago when the father of Harry Dunning took a sledgehammer to his sister, brother and mother, killing them all. Reading the essay marks a turning point for Jake. His life, like America's in 1963, and like Harry's, will never be the same.
Soon, Jake's friend Al reveals a secret. The storeroom in his restaurant is a door to the past—a specific moment in 1958. Al recruits Jake to take over the mission that Al has become obsessed with—to change history by stopping the assassination of JFK.
Jake takes the name of George Amberson, and begins a new life in a world of Elvis and Ike and JFK, sock hops, cigarette smoke, and big American cars. From the small city of Derry, Maine, where the Dunning murders occurred, to the small Texas town of Jodie, where Jake falls precariously in love, all roads lead to Dallas, and to a disturbed loner by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald. History may no longer be history, time travel has never been so plausible, and the past has never been so breathtakingly terrifying.
Stephen King is the author of more than fifty worldwide bestsellers. In 2003, he received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives with his wife, novelist Tabitha King, in Bangor, Maine.
"I have the hardcover of this book at home, but knew I would never have the time to read it. The audiobook seemed the perfect alternative. I’m generally not a sci-fi, time-travel reader, but it was by Stephen King so I went for it. For a couple of weeks, my commute was dominated by this engaging and intricate story. In typical King fashion, the images he created with words were easy to “see.” I loved the book and thought “someone should make a movie of this, but it would have to be very long.” The Hulu series brought my mental images to life, but the book helped me understand the story."
— Twigsy (5 out of 5 stars)
Publisher Summary
Winner of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award
One of the Ten Best Books of The New York Times Book Review
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
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 readers on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
It begins with Jake Epping, a thirty-five-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 fifty 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.
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Quotes
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“King pulls off a sustained high-wire act of storytelling trickery...The pages of 11/22/63 fly by, filled with immediacy, pathos, and suspense. It takes great brazenness to go anywhere near this subject matter. But it takes great skill to make this story even remotely credible. Mr. King makes it all look easy, which is surely [the] book’s fanciest trick.”
— New York Times -
“A tale richly layered with the pleasures we’ve come to expect: characters of good heart and wounded lives, whose adventures into the fantastic are made plausible because they are anchored in reality, in the conversations and sense of place that take us effortlessly into the story.”
— Washington Post -
“11/22/63 shows true worth. The writing is supple, the suspense unforced, and the atmosphere accurately evokes the times.”
— Barnes & Noble editorial review -
“Narrator Craig Wasson delivers a spirited and thoughtful performance of Jake Epping’s first-person account.”
— AudioFile -
“King remains an excellent storyteller, and his evocation of mid-twentieth-century America is deft. Alternate-history buffs will especially enjoy the twist ending.”
— Library Journal -
“King’s imagination, as always, yields a most satisfying yarn.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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A #1 New York Times bestseller
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A USA Today bestseller
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A 2011 Kirkus Reviews Top 25 Book for Fiction
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A 2011 Amazon Best Books of the Year
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A 2011 Barnes & Noble Best Book for Fiction
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A 2011 New York Times Best Book for Fiction
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Winner of the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller
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A 2011 Washington Post Notable Book for Fiction
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A 2012 World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel
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New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books for Fiction, 2011
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A 2012 Locus Award Nominee
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Winner of the 2012 International Thriller Writers Award
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A 2011 New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book of the Year for Fiction
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A 2012 British Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel
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A Publishers Weekly bestseller
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A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller
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Recipient of the 2011 Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award
11/22/63 Listener Reviews
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Deborah, 11/17/2022
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" King does it again. With plenty of twists along the way. "
— Mike, 7/1/2022 -
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j truant, 6/16/2022
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shayna westmoreland, 3/24/2022
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Steve Craig, 1/28/2022
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8/24/2021
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Frank, 11/14/2019
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K K , 4/7/2019
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" What a great story this was! I love stories about time travel and "what might have been" and his doesn't disappoint! "
— Terri, 1/3/2018 -
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Leslie Horner, 12/27/2017
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Kejaby, 5/2/2017
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" I've been a Stephen King fan all my life. Since the age of 12, I have been addicted to almost everything he writes...This book is now part of that, not his typical type of story, but so well written and researched, it blew my mind. Again, he grabs you with the story and doesn't let go. Go Stephen! "
— Marie, 2/14/2017 -
" I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. I have a 40 minute commute to work each day and this book made the time fly. I would recommend this to anyone who has long drives to and from work. "
— morrie, 7/28/2016 -
" I grabbed this book on a trip home from NYC after my sister said she was reading for a book club. She said the guy that chose it for the club had already read it and thought it would be great for discussion. Did you know that people in the Northeast believe they're inherently smarter than those on the West Coast? And not just the Ivy League pricks. The theory I constantly hear out of NYC is they do so much more reading due to the subway. That makes me laugh. Anyway, i usually either try to read classic literature that warrants inclusion in a book club (as some of it's over my head) or historical non-fiction that focuses on a person or time period. i thought this book might provide some deeper perspective or insight on JFK/Oswald. I learned a bit about Oswald, but turns out he wasn't very interesting. King still tells a page-turning, slightly warped story, and it's a fun time piece on the early 60s. I enjoyed the read, just wasn't as deep, opinionated, or controversial as I was expecting. "
— Nikolas, 2/6/2014 -
" Great book! It kept my interest the entire time and up until the end I didn't know how it was going to end. I would recommend it to anyone. "
— Heather, 1/31/2014 -
" May not be a definite must read for everyone. But it was an excellent book for me. Enjoyed how the plot played out. Really enjoyed it! One of King's best novels in my opinion "
— Nathan, 1/29/2014 -
" I thought the book really interesting and mostly enjoyed it, but I did think it could be a little shorter. "
— Rachellyndsey, 1/26/2014 -
" Really good beginning by this great story teller but the book was too long, sagged in the middle, and became repetitive after the halfway point. Also, the contrived love story got annoying. There is some wonderful writing but there are also some cheap, gimmicky passages and language that deter from the story's flow. "
— LB, 1/15/2014 -
" Mijn eerste King is meteen een voltreffer. Wat een prachtig (liefdes)verhaal... "
— Krist, 1/7/2014 -
" My first Stephen King book. Don't like his sci-fi genre. This book about the Kennedy assassination - or more specifically - about a time traveler who tries to stop the Kennedy assassination - is gripping. Great character development. "
— Judy, 1/6/2014 -
" I love this book! Definitely in my top 10 all time favs "
— Tara, 12/22/2013 -
" Loved the read... until the ending. It ruined the book for me. I was hoping for something like The Green Mile, but this book crashes at the end, IMHO. "
— Fr., 12/22/2013 -
" Can you believe I liked the Ending...of a Stephen King book!? Well the afterward attributes it to Joe Hill. So way to go father and son team! "
— Edward, 12/21/2013 -
" I loved this book. So interesting to go back to the late 50's/early 60's with a modern sensibility. "
— Joann, 11/30/2013 -
" This is a great book -- not really scary, but a fascinating look at the ideas of tampering with the events of time. "
— Jeffrey, 11/27/2013 -
" Listened to the audio book obsessively all week at work and on the daily commute. Loved it and saddened for it to be over. Very suspenseful with a nice, tender love story wrapped up in it. I was so worried about what would happen to the main characters because the past is so damn obdurate. "
— Katie, 6/13/2013 -
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pcollums, 2/26/2013
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" Very enjoyable historic fiction wrapped in the creepiness of Stephen King, the philosophical theories of changing history, along with a love story and great locations. "
— Parker, 11/29/2012 -
" disappointing ending in my opinion "
— Colleen, 10/31/2012 -
" Great book. Long...but great. Lots of detail and makes you think. "
— Alison, 9/7/2012 -
" The book is too long for the wrong reasons. I am happy to read big books. But you could easily cut 200 pages from this and loose none of the story. Don't get me wrong this is a good story and I did enjoy it. But it just should have been shorter. Anyone else agree ? "
— Grant, 8/25/2012 -
" Quite a nail-biter! Have a hankie handy; no shortage of weep-inducing drama! VERY cleverly done! "
— Oji, 8/21/2012 -
" A riveting historical fiction novel is the last thing I expected from this author I have to say that he did a pretty good job with it. Other than a few sections that were a bit slow I really enjoyed it a lot. "
— Dave M., 7/30/2012 -
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Don Schlumpf, 7/27/2012
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" I used to read Stephen King books quite frequently, but at some point a while back I stopped. No particular reason, just got too busy I suppose. However, the premise of this story just sounded so interesting to me that I had to check it out. It's a time travel story so the sci-fi lovers will love it but I think it also appeals to history buffs. It's very well-written and Stephen is truly art the top of his game here. "
— G.R., 4/21/2012 -
" A bit slow in the middle but first rate overall. "
— Erik, 4/7/2012 -
" The story line was creative and compelling, but there were too many tangents that make the book longer than it needed to be. Well researched and nicely put together--but less would have been more to keep things interesting. "
— cristina, 4/1/2012 -
" I liked this book ok but would have enjoyed it a lot better if it had been shorter. It simply dragged in too many areas and suffered from an overload of useless details. The overall premise was intriguing but these flaws really dragged it down for me. "
— Erin B., 2/18/2012 -
" This book was a real change of pace from King's usual work. It had nothing to do with the horror genre whatsoever. It's really more of mix of the science fiction and action/suspense genres. I enjoyed it quite thoroughly. "
— Steve H., 1/27/2012 -
" This book really surprised me. The story was great and that's to be expected from Stephen but this was such an unexpected surprise from him. It's so different from his usual writing with nary an aspect of the horror genre to be found. Quite a treat! "
— S.A., 1/8/2012 -
" Bof....26 pages sur l'assassinat de JFK sur 936. C'est pas beaucoup je trouve pour un livre avec ce titre... "
— Yves, 1/7/2012 -
" Forgot how much I love Stephan King Books! Great book! "
— Jessica, 1/5/2012 -
" Read this one over spring break and it completely consumed my brain the entire week. It's a great book but prepare to have your mind overtaken. "
— Sherrie, 11/26/2011
About Stephen King
Stephen King has written more than sixty books, many hitting the #1 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list. He has won the World Fantasy Award, several Bram Stoker Awards, and the O. Henry Award for his story “The Man in the Black Suit.” He is the 2003 recipient of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2007 he received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. His epic works The Dark Tower and It are the basis for major motion pictures.
About Craig Wasson
Craig Wasson is an actor and audiobook narrator. His most notable film appearance was in the 1984 film, Body Double. Also a prolific reader of audio books, he narrated Stephen King’s novel, 11/22/63, as well as numerous books by James Ellroy and John Grisham.