Stoner

Many people consider this 1965 historical work set at the turn of the twentieth century to be a modern classic. Born to a poor Missouri farming family, William Stoner is caught between two worlds when his father sends him to University of Missouri to study agronomy and discover the future of farming. He becomes an English literature major instead but nothing goes according to plan. He marries the “wrong” woman, he’s not suited for the politics of academia, his parents don’t fit in with his new life, and so on. In many ways, his is an unremarkable life but that is what allows the prose to shine.