John Williams' "Stoner" (1965) is Reissued to Fanfare-Beware

Amer novelist John Williams (b. 1922-94) received the Nat'l Book Award for "Augustus" (1972.)  His novel "Stoner" is about a lackluster professor of literature.  It has been reissued with acclaim from numerous contemporary authors.  Tim Kreiden in the  NEW YORKER ('13) declared "Stoner" "The greatest novel you've never heard of" and compares Williams work to that of James Salter & Richard Yates.  Yikes!  The title "Stoner" refers to William Stoner & is ironic because the novel reads under a fugue of passivity.  Since its reprinting in 2006, the novel has been declared an American classic - although not by me.  Besides faulting the author with misogynistic attitudes, the novel is a bore.  Granted, there is something to be said for Williams skill as a writer.  Williams was an English Prof & editor.  Stoner becomes a lifelong teacher of Lit. at a small Missouri Univ having found a passion for prose after leaving the family farm for the world of academia.  I fault the novel for the imbecilic integrity of its hero.  He fails to summon the courage to live a life with meaning & passion.  Stoner's sole purpose was imbuing his student's with knowledge.  Still, he allows his insane, shrew of a wife, Edith, to emasculate him & constrain him from interacting with their daughter.  His only revolt is against an incredulous  nemesis, a fellow professor and brief affair with an undergrad.  Stoner lives out his days numbing himself against the nothingness his life become; a "slow death of the heart, the bitter attrition of feeling and care."  "He could see nothing before him that he wished to enjoy and little behind him that he cared to remember."  I give the author an F on his novel and don't understand the resurgence of interest in his novel which bears none.