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've ever come across. -- Tom Hanks, Time <br> 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, Tin House <br> [T]he work deserves to be called a 'perfect novel' -- there's not a misplaced word or a trace of contrivance. -Boldtype <br> The best book I read in 2007 was Stoner by John Williams. It's perhaps the best book I've read in years. -Stephen Elliott, The Believer <br> 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. - The New York Times Book Review <br> Williams didn't write much compared with some novelists, but everything he did was exceedingly fine...it's a shame that he's not more often read today...But it's great that at least two of his novels [ Stoner, Butcher's Crossing ] have found their way back into print. - The Denver Post <br> A masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man -- The New Yorker <br> Why isn't this book famous...Very few novels in English, or literary productions of any kind, have come anywhere near its level for human wisdom or as a work of art. --C.P. Snow <br> Serious, beautiful and affecting, what makes Stoner so impressive is the contained intensity the author and character share. --Irving Howe, New Republic <br> A quiet but resonant achievement -- The Times Literary Supplement <br> Perhaps the greatest example of minimalism I've ever read... Stoner is a story of great hope for the writer who cares about her work