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Stephen King’s latest novel has been receiving some major accolades. The New York Times named it one of the top ten books of 2011, making it one of their top five fiction books. That kind of surprised me until I listened to the book. It really is that good.

Now, I’m not a huge Stephen King fan. I’ve only read about half a dozen books out of the gazillion that he’s written. I found the longer works that I’ve read to be kind of convoluted and in need of serious editing. I must admit that this one doesn’t seem to suffer from the confusing ramblings of “The Stand�� or “Under the Dome��. I think the biggest reason the story holds together than those other giant novels is that King uses a first person perspective that keeps him from going off on tangents. Also, because most of the story takes place from 1958 through 1963, the pop culture references are historic rather than easily dated. Despite it’s length, it kept me engaged and I couldn’t stop listening.

The audio book narration is excellent. It’s not over-dramatized, yet it’s also not horrendously dry. The narrator individualizes each character without making them cartoonish. I highly recommend the audio version, especially since it doesn’t involve holding a five-pound hardback.