Hearts in Atlantis

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: William Hurt

Hearts in Atlantis is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War.

In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats", 11-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighbourhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers, but at the heart of the terror.

In the title story, a group of college students get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast.

In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam", two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives.

And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling", this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

Full of danger and suspense, most of all full of heart, Hearts in Atlantis will take some listeners to a place they have never been, and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.

©1999 Stephen King; (P)1999 Simon and Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"An incredibly gifted writer, whose writing, like Truman Capote's, is so fluid that you often forget that you're reading." ( Guardian)

read it again

I read (listened} to hearts 10 years ago I loved part 1and 3
but was a little put off by the middle. However,overall it was a pleasure.
It does provoke a certain sadness for the main character,Bobby.
If you want to go back in time to your own youth,be prepared for
the journey. The music is great!

Stunning in every way. Beautiful rich narration.

Wonderful book, a coming of age for 11yo Booby when he meets Ted, the new tenant. Bobby loves Ted, to the boy he’s the Father he never had, the mentor who walks through his 11 year old life when Bobby and his mother lives are in turmoil.
There are wonderful other character here too., it’s exciting and thought and challenges your concepts. I think having are beliefs challenged is the sign of a pretty good book.
William Hurt narrates and it is his talent that delivers the richest narrations ever heard in the thousands of Audio books I’ve listened to.