The story of an average, not very successful literary professor, told with great humanity and tenderness. This does not seem much of a story line, yet I believe this book is so good it will still be read in one hundred years.
I tend to think that the average fiction book is less interesting that the average non-fiction book, but that the best fiction books are much, much better than the best non-fiction ones (and teach you more, and deeper things).
This one is up there with the very best. It is exquisitely well written (John Williams was a literature professor, directing a creative writing program), and despite the plainness of the plot(or maybe because of it?) it offers a remarkable view of what gives meaning to life (IMHO of course. Your millage may vary).
The story of an average, not very successful literary professor, told with great humanity and tenderness. This does not seem much of a story line, yet I believe this book is so good it will still be read in one hundred years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoner_%28novel%29