Hearts in Atlantis
by Stephen King
★ Top 25 book of 1999 · #16 on Best Books of 1999
This collection gathers two novellas and three short stories linked by recurring characters and set roughly in order. Each looks at the 1960s and Vietnam, showing a generation that failed its ideals or pays for that failure.
Best for: Readers drawn to linked stories about the Baby Boomers, the 1960s and Vietnam
Hearts in Atlantis is #16 on BookWard's Best Books of 1999, out of 52 1999 books that cleared our data bar.
What Hearts in Atlantis is about
King gathers two novellas and three shorter stories here, all set in the 1960s and all touched by the war in Vietnam. The pieces share recurring characters and move forward roughly in time, so together they read almost like a single portrait of a decade. They draw loosely on King's own life, though he reminds readers in his author's note that the places are invented and that the sixties themselves were not.
The subject is the Baby Boomer generation, his own, and his sense that it fell short of its ideals. An epigraph from Easy Rider, "We blew it," sets the tone. The mood is nostalgic and melancholy with an uncanny edge, which suits readers interested in memory, lost innocence and that turbulent era.
Hearts in Atlantis on the Best Books of 1999
Hearts in Atlantis came out in 1999. Of the 52 books first published in 1999 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #16 on our Best Books of 1999 list.
Why it made the list: 453 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (35 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1999 list
- The Code Book Simon Singh, #14
- Monster Walter Dean Myers, #15
- Kensuke's Kingdom Michael Morpurgo, #17
- The Reptile Room Lemony Snicket, #18
See all Best Books of 1999 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1998 Best Books of 2000.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 344 want to read it, 18 are reading it now and 91 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 35 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 73 | 55% |
| Reader love | 35 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 71 | 20% |
Questions about Hearts in Atlantis
When was Hearts in Atlantis published?
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King was first published in 1999.
Was Hearts in Atlantis one of the best books of 1999?
Hearts in Atlantis is #16 on BookWard's Best Books of 1999, out of 52 1999 books that cleared our data bar. 453 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (35 ratings).
Why is Hearts in Atlantis on the Best Books of 1999 list?
453 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (35 ratings).
More of the best books of 1999
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J. K. Rowling, #1
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky, #2
- Wings of Fire A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, #3
- On Writing Stephen King, #4
- The Bad Beginning Lemony Snicket, #5
- The Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah, #6
See the full Best Books of 1999, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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