By Stephen King
Scribner | 960pgs
Release Date: November 8, 2011

Stephen King’s new novel, the highly anticipated 11/22/63, arrives in stores today. The opus, which falls just short of the 1,000 page mark, follows English teacher Jake Epping through a time portal in his friend Al’s basement on a quest to prevent the assassination of JFK. Using the name George Amberson, Jake enters the past in the year 1958, and spends the next 5 years working towards changing the outcome of that fateful day, moving to a small town in Texas, falling in love with a sweet librarian and encountering a troubled young man named Lee Harvey Oswald along the way. Will Jake be able to change history? If so, will the future of the world better for this change?

When the premise for 11/22/63 was announced last spring, a few fans and critics voiced their skepticism about King’s ability to write about time travel in a believable, compelling way. But, from the enthusiasm of early critical reviews, the novelist seems to have pulled off the plot device with panache. In a review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin, is impressed with the level of research King conducted on 1960′s America and the historical figures that were linked to Oswald and the Kennedy assassination. He even consulted noted historians Richard and Doris Kearns Goodwin on certain plot points in the book. “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 his book’s fanciest trick,” concludes Maslin.

Listen to an exclusive 30 minute audio clip of 11/22/63 from Entertainment Weekly