‘Stoner‘ by John Williams

The novel is set in and around the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia and covers the period from 1910 when the protagonist, Stoner, first enters university, until his death in 1956.

Stoner is an only child in a lonely household, where he and his parents work from dawn to dusk eking out a meagre living from the barren, unrelenting land.  On finishing high school, his surprisingly forward-looking parents enrol him into the University of Missouri to study agriculture.  English literature is a required element of the course and Stoner has a ‘Damascus’ moment, realising that this is where his future lies. Continue reading →