NYRB Classics published their edition of Stoner in June of 2006, and it is the book we’ll be talking about in Episode 9 of The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast.
In 1965, John Williams published Stoner, a novel about a professor of English named William Stoner, a relatively nondescript person whom no one will remember much after his death. The novel did not do well, selling only 2,000 copies when it was first published. However, periodically since its publication someone has come forward declaring it a masterpiece. But those sentiments also seemed to go away without anyone paying any particular attention. That’s all changed recently. This past year, according to Publishers Weekly, Stoner has sold over 50,000 copies and become a world-wide best seller.
In Episode 10 we will be doing a Halloween special with Jeremias Gotthelf’s The Black Spider.
