The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel

ISBN: 978-1477317365

Год издания: 2018

Язык: Английский

320 pages

Reviews
"This rich biography gives new insight into the enigmatic man behind Stoner, a novel quickly forgotten after its 1963 publication but more recently recognized as a midcentury American classic." (Publishers Weekly, selected among “The Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2018” 2018-07-27)

"The Williams that emerges is not unlike Stoner himself: self-obsessed, given to petty feuds, and insecure about his abilities...It is to Shields’s credit that by the end of this finely crafted biography readers will feel they have some insight into this talented, troubled enigma of a man." (Publisher's Weekly)

"Despite obvious parallels with his fictional university protagonist, John Williams is both different and interesting enough to merit a book of his own, Charles J. Shields's The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel. It certainly helps that, like Williams, Shields know how to tell a good story, one that will appeal especially to those interested in the ins and outs of the publishing industry and the ups and downs of a writer's life." (Los Angeles Review of Books 2018-11-05)

"Charles Shields has done us all a service by pointing up and pointing out the novelist's unyielding ambition and rigor." (New York Journal of Books 2018-12-04)

"[An] exemplary biography, the first devoted to the life of one of America's most unusual writers." (Financial Times 2019-01-11)

"[A] sharp-eyed biography." (Booklist 2018-11-07)

"Through exhaustive research and sharp prose, Shields has composed a portrait of the complicated author and the particular darknesses that drove Williams to write, to overcompensate, to philander, to mansplain." (The Millions 2019-02-01)