Enormously affectionate, gloriously self-indulgent and unhesitatingly heroic in its championing of good books.
The Stone Reader (2003)
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Reviews Counted:64
Fresh:52
Rotten:12
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: This fascinating documentary will be of most interest to those who read and write for a living.
Theatrical Release:Feb 12, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: In this labor-of-love documentary, director-writer-producer Mark Moskowitz tackles a project he had been wanting to pursue since he was 18 years old. In 1972 he read a New York Times book review of... In this labor-of-love documentary, director-writer-producer Mark Moskowitz tackles a project he had been wanting to pursue since he was 18 years old. In 1972 he read a New York Times book review of THE STONES OF SUMMER by Dow Mossman, a title which would later became an object of obsession for Moskowitz. Though he shelved the book for 25 years, Moskowitz finally did read it and was amazed at its ingenuity. He was shocked that its onetime author never penned another book. Determined to solve this mystery, Moskowitz made THE STONE READER, documenting his research project in finding the forgotten author and getting to the bottom of the publishing mystery of how so many great works of literature, and great authors, just disappear. Moskowitz's infectious excitement about literature--reading it, collecting it, understanding it, enjoying it--comes through loud and clear in this inspiring film. He interviews some fascinating characters on his search for Mossman, including Frank Conroy, an author and the head of the Iowa University Writer's Workshop; Robert Gottlieb, the editor of Joseph Heller's CATCH 22 and former Editor-in-Chief at Simon & Schuster; and Leslie Fiedler, a literary critic and author of LOVE AND DEATH IN THE AMERICAN NOVEL. [More]
Director: Mark Moskowitz
Director: Mark Moskowitz
Screenwriter: Mark Moskowitz
Producer: Mark Moskowitz, Robert Goodman
Studio: Jet Films
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Reviews for The Stone Reader
The film doesn't exactly sell you on the merits of The Stones of Summer, but it does make you want to run out to the bookstore to pick up some Kafka or some Faulkner.
Readers and non-readers alike will thrill to the spare elegance of this stirring documentary.
It's easy to relate to Mosko-witz's single-minded preoccupation and it's even easier to like Moskowitz himself. He's an affable guy. There's just too much of him in his film.
Failure can take an enormous toll on a writer, but success sometimes can be just as brutal.
Stone Reader is a wonderfully imaginative documentary that will appeal to all book lovers since it is really an exploration of the filmmaker's enchantment with literature.
Stone Reader is in many ways an undisciplined home movie ... But that's OK. Little by little Moskowitz builds his airtight case that reading matters.
No insight into its subject matter (reading, readership, creation), but a lot of insight into Moskowitz and the contents of his bookshelf.
The stultifying pace and Moskowitz's filmmaking laziness are forgivable, but it's exasperating and indicative of our low expectations for the documentary form that a film that taps the likes of Leslie Fiedler could be so devoid of ideas.
Stone Reader is an affirmation for anybody who loves to read and if you don't, this may inspire you - or at least help you understand those of us who do.
Moskowitz has made a wonderful film about readers and reading, writers and writing.
An honest, if old-fashioned, paean to reading as an almost spiritual experience.
As personal memoir, a story of men and the books that bind them, it's fairly complex but verges on maudlin.
Such stuff will most appeal to an endangered species -- the devotee of literary fiction -- but anyone who gives a damn about the state of popular culture and the future of language will want to take heed.
Mark Moskowitz’s documentary, ostensibly about the director’s search for an admired author, is pointless and uncinematic.
You're not likely to see a more impassioned and heartfelt tribute to the joy of reading.
Loved the discovery, but hated the man’s forcing of himself on the project.
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