John Williams' sleeper hit Stoner: Finding perfection in mediocrity

Our critical consensus on John William's sleeper bestseller Stoner:

• There is almost no plot


• The main character doesn't get the girl, or really succeed at anything


• Gigantic violation of 'show don't tell', starting on literally page one


• WE FUCKING LOVE THIS BOOK

could it be...a perfect novel?

we try figure out why we relate so hard to Mr William Stoner, the great shining exemplar of principled mediocrity.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00:00 - the perfect novel


• 00:06:23 - synopsis


• 00:10:20 - why each of us loved this book


• 00:17:02 - Mediocrity as the modal outcome


• 00:22:26 - Is Stoner a good stoic or too passive?


• 00:33:24 - Edith and toxic femininity


• 00:42:36 - Subverting the hero/saviour trope


• 00:48:00 - The Lomax/Walker feud


• 00:58:30 - Academia as an asylum for misfits


• 01:03:00 - Lust and learning with Katherine Driscoll


• 01:07:30 - Dying with dignity


• 01:10:32 - Where does this stand in the canon?


• 01:17:18 - Ignoring ’show don’t tell’, plain sincere prose


• 01:20:40 - assorted culture war stuff


• 01:28:35 - choosing next book