11/22/63: A Novel
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND MODERN CLASSIC FROM MASTER STORYTELLER STEPHEN KING
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
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, whose life is upended when 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 the dying 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 the world of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere and to the small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love. Every turn leads eventually 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.
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
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, whose life is upended when 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 the dying 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 the world of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere and to the small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love. Every turn leads eventually 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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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *11/22/63* is a captivating blend of historical fiction, sci-fi, drama, and suspense that showcases Stephen King’s storytelling beyond hor...
I was hooked from the start. I’ve always been fascinated by the events around JFK. This book is amazing.
A soda-jerking, Lindy hopping, time traveling, conspiratorial blast to the 50s and 60s! Put on some Buddy Holly and allow yourself to be transported back to a time of diners and drive-in theaters, all barreling towards singular question and conclusion: “what would happen if JFK’s assassination didn’t happen?”
Had a surprising amount of romance for a Stephen King book and I loved it. Went into it thinking it was a time travel book, but before the end I cared less about JFK and more about the love story.
Makes you wonder about the people whose paths you’ve crossed in life and the impact you have had on them, and them on you.
Had a surprising amount of romance for a Stephen King book and I loved it. Went into it thinking it was a time travel book, but before the end I cared less about JFK and more about the love story.
Makes you wonder about the people whose paths you’ve crossed in life and the impact you have had on them, and them on you.
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