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The Stones of Summer (1972) - Simon - 12-17-2025
Originally published to glowing reviews in 1972, Dow Mossman's first and only novel is a sweeping coming-of-age tale that spans three decades in the life of irrepressible 1950s teen Dawes Williams. Earning its author comparisons to no less than James Joyce, J. D. Salinger, and Mark Twain, this great American novel developed a passionate cult following — even as it went out of print for more than 20 years — and recently inspired Mark Moskowitz's award-winning film Stone Reader.
Dawes Williams is not just an ordinary boy growing up in the culture-void Iowa corn country. He is a little bit of a poet, a little bit of a genius — and a little bit mad. At six he already understands more about life than the tough grandfather whom he idolizes. At eighteen he has been irrevocably labeled as the town eccentric, although he manages to stave off his bizarre inclinations and to make it, more or less, as one of the guys. But at twenty-one his threatening dark impulses start to surge to the surface and his battle for sanity and survival begins in earnest.
Dow Mossman is one of those rare writers whose prose reads like poetry and whose images electrify even the most jaded reader. His novel achieves the blending of several genres; it is at the same time romantic, lyric, and regional in the finest sense of the words. Although the entire novel spans three decades, it is essentially centered on the experience of growing up on the midwestern prairies in the fifties, and it captures with breathtaking artistry a feeling for the land, for the people, and for the myth of that era.
Mossman's gifts as a writer are extraordinary, and those who can endure the beauty and the pain of The Stones of Summer will be stunned, for it reveals the very soul of an artist.
Quote:“The Stones of Summer,” Dow Mossman: If 20th-century America produced a book of “Moby Dick” stature, it’s probably this one… but don’t let that stop you, or even slow you down. All I mean is that like Melville’s fish story, this is one whale of a tale that has somehow found an audience in spite of mind-boggling hurdles, including going out of print (Bobbs-Merrill quit doing fiction not long after it published “The Stones of Summer” in 1972) and only a smattering of reviews. Nor was the author exactly up to a PR tour; when his only book was published, Mossman was still recovering from a nervous breakdown he suffered after finishing his 10-year labor of love/hate.
The novel is difficult to get into — the first 30 pages read like an extended set of Bob Dylan liner notes from 1965. But then pure narration takes over, and readers are treated to a magical mystery tour of adolescent life in America’s heartland during the ’60s. Because Mossman is a poet as well as a crack storyteller, the result is both lyrical and gripping: Think Jim Morrison crossed with J.D. Salinger. Oh, and sometimes it’s fall-on-the-floor funny, too.
Once you’ve read the book — which takes some doing — treat yourself to Mark Moskowitz’s documentary “Stone Reader,” which played a pivotal role in bringing this forgotten book back into the cultural mainstream. Reader (available on DVD) chronicles Moskowitz’s search for Mossman, who dropped from view 30 years ago. It’s also a love sonnet to books and reading.
— Stephen King on books he recommends