William Stoner and the Battle For the Inner Life: Bookmarked

Stoner tells the story of William Stoner. Born into a poor Missouri farming family at the end of the nineteenth century, Stoner is sent to the state university to study agronomy. Instead, he falls in love with literature and becomes a professor. In this achingly beautiful novel, we witness the many disappointments and struggles in Stoner’s life, including his estrangement from his wife and daughter, and the failure of his academic career to prosper, all set against the dramatic changes of the first half of the twentieth century.

First published in 1965, Stoner was not initially a popular success, despite glowing reviews. However, the novel was rediscovered in the early 2000s, and has gone on to become an international bestseller, as well as a celebrated critical favorite, with many considering it the quintessential American novel.

In his entry in Ig’s Bookmarked series, best-selling author Steve Almond writes about why Stoner has endured as a classic, and the manner in which the book speaks to the impoverishment of the inner life in America. Almond uses the novel as a springboard to share his own struggles as a writer, a father and husband, and, finally, as a middle-aged man grappling with his own mortality.

Steve Almond is the author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Against Football and Candyfreak. His short stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, the Best American Mysteries, and the Pushcart Prize anthologies. His essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. He hosts the New York Times “Dear Sugars” podcast with Cheryl Strayed. Steve lives outside Boston with his wife and three children.