John Williams' sleeper hit Stoner: Finding perfection in mediocrity

Full transcript for this episode is available at doyouevenlit.com — sort by ideas, authors, and more. 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