FrizzLit Book Club is a Zoom class on literary masterpieces. We read about 50 pages a week. All classes are recorded.

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John Williams is the best writer you've never heard of. If you have heard of him, you are probably a literary hipster.

He has nothing to do with that other John Williams, the one who writes the film scores. This John Williams is the author of the 1965 novel Stoner, which has nothing to do with a stoner. Stoner is simply the last name of the main character, an overlooked, unremarkable English professor at a Midwest college. 

"Stoner is something rarer than a great novel — it is a perfect novel," according to the New York Times Book Review. 

Stoner is the first novel we’ll read in this two-part book club. The second novel we'll read, in part two of this club, is Augustus. If you only want to join the club for one but not the other, that works. You can find links to do that if you scroll down.

Augustus is a 1972 novel that won the National Book Award in 1973. Its main character is the opposite of a forgotten English professor in the Midwest. The main character of Augustus is Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, and Julius Caesar's successor.

The Washington Post called Augustus: "The finest historical novel ever written by an American." 

We'll read these two masterpieces back to back, and puzzle out the mystery: Why are these novels so amazing? Why don't more people talk about John Williams? How come he isn't a household name?

Who is leading this course?

Christopher Frizzelle founded FrizzLit in 2020, an experience he wrote about for the Washington Post. He is the former editor-in-chief of The Stranger and the current editor-in-chief of FrizzLit Editions. He invented the Silent Reading Party in 2009, inspiring a wordwide trend. He has a master's in creative writing from Bennington.

What to read before the first meeting

Nothing. But you should get a copy of Stoner and have it with you at our first meeting, where we are going to encounter its opening pages together.

All meetings are recorded

They will be sent to your email address within 24-48 hours of each meeting.

Recommended edition

We recommend this edition of Stoner and this edition of Augustus. 

How to pay in installments

Sign up for Part 1 now, below, and later — if you're enjoying the club — you can sign up for Part 2.