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Stoner

Stoner book cover
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Fiction Classics Historical Fiction

by John Williams, John McGahern

starstarstarstarstar_half
4.28 (42.9K ratings)
calendar_today 1965
description 278 pages

Stoner by John Williams, John McGahern holds a highly rated rating of 4.28 out of 5, based on 42.9K reader ratings. First published in 1965. The book spans 278 pages.

About Stoner

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.

Detail Value
Author John Williams, John McGahern
Published 1965
Pages 278
Genres Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction
Average Rating 4.28 / 5.00
Total Ratings 42,869

Reader Ratings & Analysis

Rating Overview

4.3
starstarstarstarstar_half
42.9K ratings
With a rating of 4.28, Stoner is rated above the global average of 4.17. Compared to its genre average of 3.99, it performs above expectations.

How It Compares

4.28
This Book
3.99
Historical Fiction Average
4.17
Global Average

Frequently Asked Questions

What genre is Stoner?

Stoner is categorized as Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction. Its primary genre classification is Historical Fiction.

Is Stoner worth reading?

Based on 42.9K reader ratings, Stoner has an average score of 4.28 out of 5.00, which is considered "Highly Rated."

How many pages is Stoner?

Stoner has 278 pages.

Who wrote Stoner?

Stoner was written by John Williams, John McGahern. It was first published in 1965.

What is the ISBN for Stoner?

The ISBN-13 for Stoner is 9781590172000.0.

Data sourced from community book ratings and reviews. Last updated: April 15, 2026