11/22/63: A Novel MP3 CD – Unabridged, November 8, 2011

I bought this a while back & have it loaded on my mp3 player but have only gotten like 3 chapters into it as I 've been on a music kick lately & have forsaken my books on cd! I love the new format they have begun with some books by recording them specifically with mp3 data that transfers directly from the disc right onto my mp3 player without first having to be "burned" & saved on my computer!! I love it!! It takes like a 3rd of the time it used to to download the book on my player & uses hardly any memory at all as a huge book can be recorded on just a few cd's. For example, a book on cd recorded in the old way can take up to 15-20 cd';s to record, but the new transfer method will only use 2-3 cd's for the same amount of data. This also cuts the cost of the book way down as they are using less cd's. Makes sense to me!!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Many people chastise King, saying it's not a "JFK book," and I agree. It's not. For me, it's a love story. I found myself enthralled by the George Amberson's life in Jodie, especially his time with Sadie. This is where King's writing is strongest, and, at times, I felt as though he were forcing in the Oswald story. We, the reader, want George (or Jake) to wind up with Sadie, to take her back to 2011 and have her face completely healed by modern medical technology, but once King introduces that idea, we know it will never happen. And once Sadie accompanies George on his quest to stop Oswald, we know her fate is sealed.What I do have a problem with is the ending. Would the world have been that cataclysmic had JFK not been assassinated? Also, call me a a sucker for happy endings, but I desperately wanted Sadie and Jake to be together at the end. For me, a "better," ending would have been to have Sadie die as she did, but have Jake find the world better in 2011 than how he left it. Once Sadie dies, Jake is hellbent on returning to the past to "undo" her death, and once he finds out that 2011 is a wasteland, we're just waiting for Harry Dunning to shut up so he can go. I would have much rather seen Jake struggle between returning to 1958 to save Sadie or staying in the new and better 2011 to save...well...everyone else.

I am a longtime King fan, but I do feel that his more recent books have been uneven and I haven't loved all of them. This book seems like a return to form. As always, King provides great character development and excellent descriptive prose that makes me feel like I am back in the last 50's right along with the protaganist (even though I wasn't alive then!). Full disclosure, I am only about halfway through the book, as I purchased it on CD to help get me through the long drives over the holidays, but I have been so into it that I have been listening to it even during a 5 minute drive. So far, this book seems like King's more character/story driven books (like The Stand, The Shining) rather than the more supernaturally driven books (Pet Semetary, It), but that may change towards the end (as a lot of his books seem too). Either way, I am enjoying the ride.

Be careful. This product is NOT a regular CD of an audio book. It is an MP3 disk that will only play on a computer like device! We had to download it to our iPad to be able to play it in our car. Sam Freedman

King at his best! Clear and concise writing, each paragraph moving the story forward at a pace that continues to quicken as the novel progresses.A wonderful "what if" that has been given great thought and research. Of course it would not be Stephen King if the book did not meander intothe weeds once or twice with the gruesome details of physical violence or bodily functions .I read hardback the week it published and released. I am now listening to the MPG file at my easel as I work.A different delivery system but still very entertaining.

The level of forethought, research and preparation is obvious in 11/22/63. No unbelievable endings or liberties taken with history. King has worked very hard to weave a great fiction into detailed history. In the end, King spins a tale without any loose ends yet as a read is able to pull the reader into an edge of your seat ride into the "what if". A great work!

Wow...King went off on a tangent here with this subject, and he goes off on multiple tangents throughout this tome, but it is compelling. I have the audio version, which is well-read by a narrator using a variety of voices and accents to make it real. It is a bizarre and unexpected journey. True to the historic record, but with artistic license taken where blanks can legitimately be inserted. It has caused me to revisit You Tube quite often to remind me of forgotten personalities and introduce me to ones of which I was never aware of being connected to this seminal event. It is long, it is rambling, and there is a ton of activities and people to keep up with. Worth the effort!

Once again Kng demonstrates his skills and writing, bothin the story line development, the descriptive writing and the flow. It certainlyh is not a horror book by any stretch of the imagination, but a wondrful listen (audio book). the reader was great. My wife and I enjoyed this for the 30 plus hours and felt it was time well spent. A quality work.