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Hearts in Atlantis cover art

Hearts in Atlantis

Written by: Stephen King
Narrated by: Stephen King, William Hurt
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Publisher's Summary

Each of these five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999, are deeply rooted in the 60s culture and the haunting images of the Vietnam War. "Low Men in Yellow Coats" is the story of 11-year-old Bobby Garfield who discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. Bobby also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror. In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game when they discover the possibility of protest. In "Blind Willy" 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 haunted - as their own lives. And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable work's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.
©1999 Stephen King, All Rights Reserved, (P)1999 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved

What the critics say

"We now know what Stephen King, the master of horror, is afraid of. The Vietnam War...scares him so bad he won't let his hero act imprudently." (The New York Times)
"...Hurt skillfully evokes pathos from the story's fine detailing...." (Publishers Weekly)

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What listeners say about Hearts in Atlantis

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Pretty good

Great book, decent narrator but there is often music interspersed that does NOT reflect the mood of the scene and the narrator makes lots of weird pauses where I think he might be turning pages and it can be distracting.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mixed feelings

I am struggling to make it through this book. The narrator is annoying. When I start getting into the story either the way he narrator or the music pulls me out of it and takes me a while to get back into the listening zone.
Overall the story is good. So much ties into the Dark Tower series. It is like mortar, filling in gaps with info.
I wish there was another audiobook version with different narrator.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

The overall content of this was as enjoyable as can be when William Hurt was narrating. Unfortunately Stephen does not have any appeal to his narration. As an author I don’t even have to describe the joy and entertainment he brings but I couldn’t even listen to the content he narrated, so in that I lost a lot with this purchase.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Better if William Hurt narrated whole book

This book is a collection of 5 somewhat connected stories. Hurt narrates 1, 4 and 5 and King narrates 2 & 3. Hurt's narration is fantastic, the way he uses pace really makes everything believable. I wish he did the whole book.

As for the stories themselves:
Low Men: great story, good length, Dark Tower tie-in, ending was fine but I wished it went another way.
Hearts in Atlantis: seemingly pointless story, good characters, I love the hearts card game so it wasn't terrible, this is the worst of the 5.
Blibd Willie: surprisingly good, small little twists, shorter but the right length
Why we're in 'Nam: decent story involving PTSD, good narration
Whatever the last one was called: acts sort of like an epilogue to Low Men in Yellow Coats and honestly this made me more OK with the chosen ending for Low Men.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A few hits, a few not quite hits.

LowMen in Yellow coats, is part of the Dark Tower series and as such I ADORED it. I also adore Hurt's narration. He speaks impeccably well and takes his time, I thoroughly enjoyed him.
My least favourite was Hearts in Atlantis, it was funny, and sweet and So much what I remember of the 60s, and Hearts. (He also played Wist) We fondly remember Oches's I'm not marching anymore. I've got used to
Stephen's narration, but it's not polished like Hurt's.
John Hurt's back for Why We're in Vietnam, another one I like a great deal.
Hoping for Bobby to bring it all home in the last story. He did and that makes this a success.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great book, bad useless music

the music is awful and destroys immersion. Also listening to stephen king read is painful at best

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

avid readers will enjoy this one ;)

absolutely amazing, I'm on a mission to read every Stephen King book I can get my hands on. and let me tell you that all of these intermingling stories got my heat. I mean it. Fantastic!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story Collection

I put this book off for a long time, as it was a short story collection. I am glad I finally picked it up. Each of the stories are good on their own, but I like how they intertwine within themselves and in one case with another King series. But to be honest I am not a fan of King's reading and wish he would leave it to others. Also I found the constant playing of music to be annoying, not needed and takes away from the book, This is why I gave the performance 3 stars. #Audible1

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Performances

Great story...William Hurt’s performance was much better that Stephen King’s reading but still good.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • JB
  • 2022-11-14

Great story but…

The production of this audiobook is STUPID. The loud music all over the place is insane and obnoxious. I love the narrator and the story itself but man that music ruins it. I can’t listen to it when I’m falling asleep because I have to shoot up to turn the volume down.

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