{"product_id":"the-man-who-wrote-the-perfect-novel-john-williams-stoner-and-the-writing-life","title":"The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel: John Williams  Stoner  and the Writing Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Stoner was published in 1965  the novel sold only a couple of thousand copies before disappearing with hardly a trace. Yet John Williamss quietly powerful tale of a Midwestern college professor  William Stoner  whose life becomes a parable of solitude and anguish eventually found an admiring audience in America and especially in Europe. The New York Times called Stoner a perfect novel  and a host of writers and critics  including Colum McCann  Julian Barnes  Bret Easton Ellis  Ian McEwan  Emma Straub  Ruth Rendell  C. P. Snow  and Irving Howe  praised its artistry. The New Yorker deemed it a masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man. The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel traces the life of Stoners author  John Williams. Acclaimed biographer Charles J. Shields follows the whole arc of Williamss life  which in many ways paralleled that of his titular character  from their shared working-class backgrounds to their undistinguished careers in the halls of academia. Shields vividly recounts Williamss development as an author  whose other works include the novels Butchers Crossing and Augustus (for the latter  Williams shared the 1972 National Book Award). Shields also reveals the astonishing afterlife of Stoner  which garnered new fans with each American reissue  and then became a bestseller all over Europe after Dutch publisher Lebowski brought out a translation in 2013. Since then  Stoner has been published in twenty-one countries and has sold over a million copies.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44983770841141,"sku":"ByrdShop_1477317368","price":37.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781477317365.jpg?v=1770809755","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-man-who-wrote-the-perfect-novel-john-williams-stoner-and-the-writing-life","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}