{"product_id":"the-man-who-wrote-the-perfect-novel-john-williams-stoner-and-the-writing-life-paperback","title":"The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel: John Williams, Stoner, and the Writing Life - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eCharles J. Shields\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen \u003ci\u003eStoner\u003c\/i\u003e was published in 1965, the novel sold only a couple of thousand copies before disappearing with hardly a trace. Yet John Williams's 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 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e called \u003ci\u003eStoner\u003c\/i\u003e \"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 \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e deemed it \"a masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel\u003c\/i\u003e traces the life of \u003ci\u003eStoner\u003c\/i\u003e's author, John Williams. Acclaimed biographer Charles J. Shields follows the whole arc of Williams's 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 Williams's development as an author, whose other works include the novels \u003ci\u003eButcher's Crossing\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAugustus\u003c\/i\u003e (for the latter, Williams shared the 1972 National Book Award). Shields also reveals the astonishing afterlife of \u003ci\u003eStoner\u003c\/i\u003e, 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, \u003ci\u003eStoner\u003c\/i\u003e has been published in twenty-one countries and has sold over a million copies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharles J. Shields is the author of \u003ci\u003eMockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee\u003c\/i\u003e, a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller, a Literary Guild Selection, and a Book-of-the-Month Club Alternate. His young adult biography of Harper Lee, \u003ci\u003e I Am Scout\u003c\/i\u003e, was chosen an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, and a Junior Literary Guild Selection. In 2011, Shields published \u003ci\u003eAnd So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life\u003c\/i\u003e, a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 x 8.4 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 24, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52454872023347,"sku":"9781477320105","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/cWJrQ3VrZmc5UlVaUmMwdzZmcmFNQT09.webp?v=1759136604","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/the-man-who-wrote-the-perfect-novel-john-williams-stoner-and-the-writing-life-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}