Stone Reviewer

Stone Reader has been marketed as “a movie for anyone who’s ever loved a book.” As someone who fits neatly into that category, I can certainly confirm the legitimacy of that claim. If you too have ever loved a book (and who hasn’t?), and if Stone Reader happens to be showing anywhere near you, you should check it out:

Filmmaker Mark Moskowitz finally reads a critically acclaimed novel he bought back in 1972, and discovers that both the book and the author have long since vanished. Stone Reader documents Moskowitz’s quest to find out why. As he solves the mystery, the twists and turns of the journey reveal something more–the singular bond literature can create among strangers.

The movie drags a bit and gets a little long-winded in its oversentimentality, and you might find yourself a little frustrated by the filmmaker’s literary biases, which he makes no attempt to hide (e.g., though much of the movie is spent discussing the mystery of great “one-book writers,” the filmmaker conspicuously avoids mentioning Harper Lee), but it’s still worth the price of admission and the two and a quarter hours you’ll spend in the theater.

Incidentally, in an interesting move that you would probably expect in the quirky world of publishing, the book that had vanished, The Stones of Summer, has just been brought back to life by Barnes & Noble’s publishing arm. I’m not sure if I’ll attempt to read it or not, but its rebirth certainly makes a good publishing curiosity.

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