Stoner by John Williams

WHAT WE'RE READING: Stoner by John Williams

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT: "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, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, 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's 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."

WHERE WE'RE MEETING: 4100 Bar in Silver Lake

A NOTE ON PARKING: Street parking should be more readily accessible on Sunset Blvd to the west of the meet-up location.

A NOTE ON THE MEET-UP SEATING LOCATION: Meet-ups are generally held on the bar terrace, if sufficient seating is available. Please dress warmly in the event of cool evening weather!

A NOTE ON RSVPING: If your name is on the attendee list for a scheduled meet-up and you no longer plan on attending the event, please remove your name from the attendee list at least a week before the scheduled event to allow individuals on the waitlist sufficient time to read the book beforehand (no worries if a cancellation has to be last-minute, though!).

Happy reading!

Colin