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Stoner Audiobook
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(4.00) - 3,672 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, far different from the hardscrabble existence he has known.
Yet as the years pass, William Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.
John Williams’ luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.
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"The author forces you to watch his protagonist die from the first page and does it with such cold-blooded acumen that you might only hope you're boiled to death or shot so as to save yourself the trenchant horror of natural passing. There is no way a rational being could leave this work outside the canon of genius novels. I would not recommend this book to anyone I really cared about."
— Brendan (5 out of 5 stars)
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“Robin Field fully inhabits Stoner’s character, dragging every morsel of tragedy, inevitability, and, occasionally, wiliness and joy from Williams’ understated writing…Stoner is a small miracle of a novel that is enhanced by a narrator who is a perfect match. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile -
“A masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man.”
— New Yorker -
“An unjustly neglected gem.”
— People -
“A perfect novel, so well told and beautifully written, so deeply moving, that it takes your breath away.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“It’s simply a novel about a guy who goes to college and becomes a teacher. But it’s one of the most fascinating things that you’ll ever come across.”
— Time -
“The book is so beautifully paced and cadenced that it deserves the status of classic.”
— The Guardian (London) -
“Is no doubt my favorite literary romance of all time…The affair that ensues is described with a beauty so fierce that it takes my breath away each time I read it. The chapters devoted to this romance are both terribly sexy and profoundly wise.”
— Christian Science Monitor -
“Stoner…is so quietly beautiful and moving, so precisely constructed, that you want to read it in one sitting and enjoy being in it, altered somehow, as if you have been allowed to wear an exquisitely tailored garment that you don’t want to take off.”
— Globe and Mail (Toronto) -
“An exquisite study…I had not known…that the kind of unsparing portrait of failed marriage shown in Stoner existed before John Cheever.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“Serious, beautiful and affecting, what makes Stoner so impressive is the contained intensity the author and character share.”
— New Republic -
“It’s beautifully written in simple but brilliant prose, a novel of an ordinary life, an examination of a quiet tragedy.”
— Ruth Rendell, Edgar Award-winning author -
“Stoner is written in the most plainspoken of styles…Its hero is an obscure academic who endures a series of personal and professional agonies. Yet the novel is utterly riveting, and for one simple reason: because the author, John Williams, treats his characters with such tender and ruthless honesty that we cannot help but love them.”
— Steve Almond, author of (Not That You Asked)
Awards
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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An Audible Editors Top Pick of Books Listeners Are Raving About
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A London Guardian Pick of Top 10 Novels
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A BuzzFeed Books Pick of Great Books You May Not Know About
Stoner Listener Reviews
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" A quiet book, wonderfully written, that keeps you intrigued as you travel through the life of William Stoner. "
— Bobbie, 2/16/2014 -
" Brilliant, quiet, masterpiece. There are books one reads where one learns so much, confirms things one thought might be true. People from California should read this book so they understand people from the Midwest. There is poetry here, some of it happy, some of it sad, all of it true. "
— Dpwarzyn, 2/15/2014 -
" I liked this alot. And yes, it was depressing, but the story could take place now, and still be believable. I had never heard of this author or book, and am so glad I read it. "
— Betsy, 1/30/2014 -
" Tom Hanks said that everyone should read this American Classic and I did. I felt Stoner had a sad pathethic life and the whole story made me really said for all the characters. The book was well written but life should have more joy. I hope it isn't a true American classic. It was so sad. "
— Momanddad, 1/9/2014 -
" Understated and beautifully written story of a man's life. "
— Flexnib, 12/19/2013 -
" Very disappointing. A good guy who builds himself up from nothing; but whose life is ruined by a bad choice in marriage to a spoilt, snobbish, totally domineering and evil wife, Edith, who can simply be described as the wicked witch. "
— Viv, 12/17/2013 -
" Blah story of a Midwestern professor set in midwest from approx 1930-1950, crazy frigid wife, affair, etc. etc. Written by an academic for other academics and the "prize" judges; I found the writing very self-conscious. "
— Leslie, 10/26/2013 -
" Prose was wonderful. Sad story for the most part with some glimpses of hope and human strength "
— Trish, 8/9/2013 -
" I loaned this book to a friend, and he said, "I have no idea how Williams wrote a book that could simultaneously be so hopeful yet so depresseing." That says it best. John Williams wrote only four novels, and three are masterpieces. This book about a teacher will break your heart. "
— Erik, 7/27/2013 -
" Perfection. Not to be missed "
— Lynn, 7/26/2013 -
" This well-known novel by John Williams is about an English professor named William Stoner and takes place primarily in the 1920's to 40's. His life struggles both professionally and at home are so well told the story is very engaging. "
— Karl, 5/28/2013 -
" Wat een goed boek, prachtige stijl, mooi zonder hoogdraverij, zoals alleen echt goede schrijvers dat kunnen. Adembenemend verteld. "
— Robert, 5/21/2013 -
" A bracingly honest book that is gripping for reasons that are difficult to say. "
— Mark, 5/3/2013 -
" A friend gave this to me for my birthday a year or so ago. It is a delight from beginning to end. Wise and beautifully written. Sadly, I believe it's out of print. I'd be happy to lend my copy out, though. "
— Ashley, 4/3/2013 -
" Not to be missed. Would have been five stars, but for the end. Still, a revelation. "
— Alex, 3/25/2013 -
" wonderful...not a wasted word "
— Debra, 2/19/2013 -
" Prachtig, droevig, eenzaam, ingetogen verhaal over het leven van William Stoner. Een doodgewone man, een doodgewoon leven (nou ja), dicht op de huid geschreven, zo dicht, dat je Stoner af en toe een zetje in de goede richting zou willen geven. Het einde gaf me brandende ogen. Aanrader! "
— Susanne, 6/13/2012 -
" A book, a life, a few bumps, and a few joys make a lovely read. "
— Julie, 1/18/2012 -
" A narrative book with little dialogue, I never thought I would enjoy it but did. It takes a good writer to create a book that tells the story which is really about a very ordinary life without frills or overexcitement and still make it a very interesting book. "
— Angela, 11/20/2011 -
" John Williams 1922-1994 author, character's lives seem predestined and void of free will. The tragedy of lives "lived in quiet desperation". "
— Sandy, 5/20/2011 -
" Probablyy the best written novel I have ever read. It sounds quite ordinary in synopsis but is a real page-turner. "
— Brian, 5/18/2011 -
" a good life story. very Midwestern in its language and lack of affectation. great portrayal of university life. "
— Isaac, 5/6/2011 -
" This was just a beautiful novel. Though some may think it sad---read it with an open heart and you will find it to be a true pleasure. "
— Wanda, 4/21/2011 -
" A little harrowing in the face of inevitable mid life crisis. Almost a perfect book. Thanks WTB. "
— Kingklam, 4/20/2011 -
" Excellent although a little dark at times. "
— Sharon, 4/11/2011 -
" This book has one of the most authentic (if we can know) and sensitive descriptions of the experience of dying that I have ever read. "
— Risa, 3/30/2011
About John Williams
John Williams (1922–1994) was born in Texas. The poet and novelist taught at and received his PhD from the University of Missouri in the early 1950s. In 1955 he became the director of the University of Denver’s creative writing program, where he became the editor of the University of Denver Quarterly. He remained at Denver until his retirement in 1986. He was a cowinner of the 1973 National Book Award for Fiction for the novel Augustus.
About Robin Field
Robin Field is the AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator of numerous audiobooks, as well as an award-winning actor, singer, writer, and lyricist whose career has spanned six decades. He has starred on and off Broadway, headlined at Carnegie Hall, authored numerous musical reviews, and hosted or performed on a number of television and radio programs over the years.