It should delight anyone who loves to curl up with a book, or loves to tell someone about a book worth curling up with.
The Stone Reader (2003)
Tomatometer
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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 most improbably thrilling movie you'll see in 2003 -- an utterly absorbing, invigorating celebration of creativity and its symbiotic and replenishing relationship with the human spirit.
Who'd have thought that a documentary about reading could be so much fun?
The first movie I can recall that really inspired me to read afterward.
Stone Reader's subject is worthy, and receives a mostly entertaining treatment, but I felt like there was more to gain from the quest than Moskowitz puts on the screen.
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.
To anyone whose soul lives or dies by reading or writing or both, the movie is a total thrill.
The mainstream nature of Moskowitz's taste in books undermines his proselytizing for Mossman, whose prose we barely meet in the movie. "I like subplots and twists in stories," he counsels us at one point.
After seeing The Stone Reader, hearing J.D. Salinger speak or read from an unpublished work would be an anticlimax.
Both an involving real-life mystery and a passionate romance between a novelist and his ideal reader.
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.
May leave audience members with thoughts of buying a book rather than their next movie ticket.
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.
Moskowitz indulgences himself too often at the expense of audience patience.
Readers and non-readers alike will thrill to the spare elegance of this stirring documentary.
Absolutely mesmerizing ... The beauty of this page-turner of a documentary comes from more than just the quest to find the elusive Mossman. The journey is the reward.
Stone Reader is the story of a Quixotian quest by a man who is more than an ideal reader. Mark Moskowitz is the sort of reader writers live for.
Mark Moskowitz’s documentary, ostensibly about the director’s search for an admired author, is pointless and uncinematic.
Filmmaker Mark Moskowitz, who earns a living making political commercials, turns his considerable skills of media persuasion to the nobler service of selling serious books. And with Stone Reader, he makes the sale.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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