Stoner with delivery to Ireland

“Stoner” is one of the most important American novels of the 20th century, although it gained this reputation relatively late. When John Williams published it in 1965, it went virtually unnoticed on the American market. It was only European editions, a decade ago, that gave the novel a second life. The French translation by the well-known writer Anna Gavalda became an instant bestseller, after which “Stoner” repeated its sales success in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Israel, among others, selling half a million copies in total. In 2013 it was also the most widely read novel in the United States, winning praise from authors such as Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan, Bret Easton Elis and Tom Hanks.

The first Polish edition of the book, entitled “Profesor Stoner”, was published in 2014 by Sonia Draga, translated by Paweł Cichawa.

John Williams said of his book: “I knew that in some way I was going against the fashionable novels of my time. I wanted to write a novel that would be honest rather than sensational, that would hold the reader’s attention without resorting to tricks and contrivances, and that would move us on the same level at which life moves us; in short, I wanted to write a novel almost entirely devoid of symbols, and I wanted to do so because I was convinced that people matter not because they are symbols of something, but because they are people.”

Like “Pani Bovary”, the novel to which John Williams refers in his book, “Stoner” tells the story of an utterly ordinary man: his aspirations, mistakes, losses and clumsy pursuit of happiness. A seemingly insignificant plot becomes a universal story of how we give meaning to our lives. It speaks of the importance of feelings and of work. Of a culture that has a destructive effect on love, sexuality and desire. The late success of Williams’s novel surely stems from the fact that every one of us, man or woman, can exclaim: “I am Stoner.” And this identification brings both solace and boundless sadness.

“It’s simply a novel about a guy who goes to university and becomes a teacher. But it’s one of the most fascinating books you can read.”

Tom Hanks

“It is a true ‘reader’s novel’, for its plot emphasises the value of study and reading.”

Julian Barnes

“A beautiful, sad, utterly convincing story of one life. I am surprised that such a superb novel escaped the public’s attention for so long.”

Ian McEwan

“John Williams’s ‘Stoner’ is something rarer than a great novel – it is a perfect novel, so well told and beautifully written, so deeply moving, that it takes your breath away.”

Morris Dickstein, “The New York Times Book Review”

John Edward Williams (1922–1994) – American novelist, poet, editor, essayist and university lecturer. He was born and raised in a poor farming family in northern Texas. During the Second World War he served for over two years as a radio operator and C-47 pilot in China, India and Burma. His war service enabled him to go on to higher education. He graduated in English from the University of Denver, then became a doctoral student and teaching assistant at the University of Missouri, familiar from “Stoner”. He specialised in Elizabethan drama and poetry, and taught creative writing until his retirement. He was the author of three novels: “Butcher’s Crossing”, a western of sorts; “August” (PIW, 2007), an epistolary historical novel about the Roman emperor, for which he received the National Book Award; and the campus novel “Stoner”, which brought him international, albeit posthumous, fame.

Williams struggled with alcoholism and was also a heavy smoker. He died of respiratory failure at his home in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Once asked in an interview whether literature should entertain, he replied: “Absolutely. My God, reading that gives no pleasure is foolish.”