>>>
stephen king
's latest big novel is about
time travel
. imagine going back to
november 22
,
1963
, and stopping
lee harvey
os wald from assassinating
president john f. kennedy
.
>>
could you find a way to prevent oswald from firing those shots? if you could, how could that change our world? "11/22-63" is it fun and fact-filled novel.
>>
thank you for taking time out of your schedule.
>>
it's great.
>>
what is great about your book, if you look at it, this is what really happened. jfk slain. if you flip it on to the back cover, it shows what would have happened if your protagonist succeeded.
>>
if you lived through that, that headline gives you a chill in your heart. it could have been so close to what happened that he could have survived.
>>
you could have picked, using this
time travel
technique, you could have picked anything in history, any episode in history. have you been fascinated by this so long it was gnawing at you to do?
>>
yes. i believe oswald acted alone. there is a 98% certainty that he did. it could have so easily gone the other way. it was supposed to rain that day. if it rains, there is a bubble top over the limousine and maybe
kennedy
doesn't get shot. the other side of it is when he shot
kennedy
so many things in america were happening. there was the
civil rights
thing. vietnam was ramping up. all the
young people
getting involved with politics and all that stuff. you have to wonder if
kennedy
hadn't been killed that day what our world would be like today.
>>
what's great about this book, it's based on real history.
doris kearns goodwin
is one of our friends at the "today" show.
>>
this is so historic.
>>
not one of those wild, wacky imagination stories of yours.
>>
doris kicks. she's great.
>>
she doesn't seem like the genius she is, she's fun.
>>
she is right down to earth. she is a lot of fun. she and her husband
dick goodwin
in the
kennedy
days, doris was an lbj, a johnson aide and
dick goodwin
was a
kennedy
guy. i asked them if they put their heads together and say, if he lived what would you think would have happened? i got interesting answers about that.
>>
what made you decide to do this kind of book, period? we know you for the creepy, scary stuff you do. what made you step out of your
comfort zone
?
>>
there are a lot of things. one thing is when you
step outside
your
comfort zone
, you have to stand up and really put in an effort. i really wanted to do that. this book was not phoned in. there is a lot of research. it took about two years. i'm a' 50s guy. i like the music.
>>
what music?
>>
a lot of the early
rock and roll
.
>>
everly brothers
?
>>
i thought they were a little bit vanilla. i liked
chuck berry
.
little richard
. guys like that. the dovelles used to go on "
american band stand
" and the girls would scream because of the dance routines.
>>
nothing changes necessary that respect.
>>
in the '50s, they danced.
>>
is your
main character
based on anyone you know, the guy who goes back in time?
>>
not really. i was an
english teacher
and i loved it so i made him an
english teacher
, but he is a made-up guy.
>>
you put it five years before. he has to take on this live in jody?
>>
jody, texas.
>>
it's a
love story
, as well. people will read the book and say this is craziness. they are
real people
. you intertwine. you had to do it perfectly or you're going to hear from every whack job out there that follows. you got this wrong. i just did a musical and people said you got this wrong, you got that wrong.
>>
there are whack jobs out there? who knew.
>>
i just want to warn you. they are going to come out from under the woodwork.
>>
i heard from a couple. one thing is there are a lot of people out there. i have no bone to pick with them whatsoever who believed that it was a conspiracy. was it the mafia involved or the cia or castro or lbj? all of them. they already started to weigh in on their websites. they are wedded to their thing. i'm like, hey, no problem here. you believe what you believe, i'll believe what i believe.
>>
good luck with the book.
>>
we don't have to wish him.
>>
it's already a bestseller.
>>
we wish you all the
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