Hearts in Atlantis

No one writes as well of the beauty and pain of childhood. It is a shame that Stephen King will probably never receive the credit due for the strength of this attribute. It is fabulous.

Have to be a little cautious to read this book... or collection, whatever. It deals with the emotions of life's passing... and the memory's longings for going back and having, keeping. Regrets are faded into pleasures, but aching to relive is overarching like the aroma of rain during an overcast late-afternoon. Powerful and unforgettable.

I've listened to this audio book twice and I'll listen to it again. King's story telling mastery shines in this one tieing the world of the "low men in yellow dusters" (agents of the Dark Tower's Crimson King) who search for and finally catch Ted (an escaped breaker - psychics who are captured by the Crimson King and forced to aid this monster in trying to destroy the tower - the object of Roland's quest in the Dark Tower series); with the world of Bobby, a young boy just entering his teen years who lives in the same rental building where Ted takes up residency while trying to hide from the low men. Bobby strikes up a friendship with the much older and mysterious Ted who hires Bobby to read the daily newspaper to him and to watch the neighborhood for signs that the low men may be close by. When Bobby starts seeing the signs he is supposed to watch for, he doesn't tell Ted because he knows that Ted will flee the low men if they are near.Bobby's two closest young friends are Carol and Sully John who also are drawn into Ted's wierd and mysterious circle of influence. Before he is captured by the low men Ted uses his abilities to help heal the injured Carol when Bobby carries her home after she is beaten by the neighborhood bully boys with a baseball bat.In the later short stories tied into this book so smoothly by the King, Bobby and Carol are reunited during their college years after being separated following Ted's capture when Bobby's mother abruptly leaves the neighborhood for a new town and a new job after she was horribly attacked and sexually assulted by her boss and 2 of his croonies at a real estate convention where the ambitious and not so gullible mother has manuvered herself leaving Bobby in Ted's care while she is gone.Bobby's life in the college dorms is a nostalgic trip for those of us who entered college during the Viet Nam era, and his passing reunification with Carol has a striking resemblance to the ships-passing-in-the-night relationship between Forest Gump and the love of his life. The beginning and ending of this book involves Bobby's return to the old neighborhood to attend Carol's funeral.For those who are Dark Tower junkies like me, the timing of this book fills in some vital facts about what is wrong with the Tower which King has not yet revealed in the Tower series books. You can also pick up more insights regarding the cause of the problems with the tower in Insomnia, and Black House.In all this is another great story by the master story-teller of our time with magically vivid characters and richly described worlds for them to live in. NOBODY but King could take 5 short stories and tie them together so smoothly while revealing as yet untold details for an entirely different series of Books which he has been creating over the last 30+ years. Amazing.

Wow, this was my first purchase with this Amazon account back in high school! Yes, of course you should buy this book. These are some of the most powerful and heartfelt stories you will ever come across. You should read them just for the sake of understanding other people a little better.So, an interesting fact about this book is that the movie with Anthony Hopkins, which was pretty decent, is based on the first story in this collection of stories. The first story is titled "Low Men in Yellow Coats" which makes absolutely no sense until you read the Dark Tower series, because this book was basically written during a much needed hiatus after he lost his mind in the wild west with that Susan Delgado nonsense that he eventually made the main story. You can imagine they could not have possibly called the movie that because it would have been confusing to most people, and simply not as catchy and dreamy as "Hearts in Atlantis".Anyway, the first story is about a young boy that the older man kind of mentors while the boy watches out for him as well as he seems to suffering some kind of mental issue where he goes into trances and talks what sounds like gibberish, which again is better understood when you know about the grander story this one takes place in. For instance, he keeps saying "They draw west now..." Certain informed readers know exactly who he's talking about.At the same time, some unseen threat is closing in on the boy that the older man is protecting him from. Everything that's happening is overtly in the context of the most evil actors in The Dark Tower metauniverse. It is meant to satisfy devourers of the longer series as well as be a set of good short stories on their own, and they more than satisfy.The second adventure is simply wonderful and is indeed the titular story that actually has to do with the card game of Hearts. As you read it, you can tell that it was probably based on true-ish events that the author experienced in college. All the stories are meant to be period pieces that immerse you in that time so you learn how much things cost and what people were listing to, watching, and talking about in that time, namely the 60s, which this book wants to convince you really happened.The later stories recount adventures of other characters in the first story. There is a very intriguing one that is a PS on one of the first story's antagonists who seemed to be in a very powerful position in his youth and maintains a similar kind of cliquish power later in life, but at what cost?Beautiful prose lies within.

I loved this book. Hearts in Atlantis. Perfect name for this novel. I loved the way it has 3 or 4 stories in one & they all came together. It made me remember what it was like to be a kid, have dreams, fall in love etc, I loved the ending , with tears of joy stream down my face. Steven King is the smartest man in the world!