"All this happened, more or less."

You know that a writer has created something magical when you find yourself invested enough in a story to actually will a storyline along toward the direction you desperately hope it will go. I found myself really, really wanting certain things to happen to and for certain characters in Stephen King’s 11-22-63 . Did everything turn out the way I hoped it would? Nope, but I understood why King wrote the denouement the way he did, and that made it not only bearable, but also ultimately okay with me. As I finished the final chapter of this lengthy novel, I felt like things turned out the way they had to all along, and that the question of fate vs. free will had been adequately satisfied; we are both directed by forces outside of our control and simultaneously have enormous power to change the course of our lives and the lives of others . (Hey, students: that’s my informal thematic statement J ) I struggle to find anything more profound to say about this text than that – unless