Steve Almond at THE

The Paragraph of the Week, taken from William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life, is about the need to nurture private contemplation which is under fresh threats in our time. To make his point Almond turns to Stoner, his favorite novel—and, as it turns out, mine as well. The book by John Williams is about an obscure and unfamous professor of medieval literature who accomplishes little that is remarkable by society’s standards, but nonetheless lives a rewarding life.