How can a novel about a mediocre man's ordinary life lie hidden away in American universities in a few, dusty copies, only to be hailed as one of the best contemporary novels 50 years later? The story of John Williams' rediscovered book 'Stoner' is itself worthy of a novel, and is presented by some of the people we can thank for getting to know the work today. Critical writers, who are linguistically conscious to a degree where it is a pleasure to listen to their choice of words, as they initiate us into what 'Stoner' meant to them.