A film about books

I recently saw Stone Reader, a documentary about The Stones of Summer, a book written by Dow Mossman.

Mossman wrote the book in 1972. Filmmaker Mark Moskowitz read a New York Times review of this book that hailed the book as a major work by a new author. Moskowitz didn't actually read the book until 25 years later, but found himslef obsessed by it. He wanted to read Mossman's other works, but couldn't find any. It turns out that The Stones of Summer was Mossman's only published work. Moskowitz makes the film as an attempt to find Mossman and find out why this was his only published work.

This film is a meandering work. Moskowitz shot a lot of film and there are many peaceful shots of New England, Iowa and elsewhere while Moskowitz wonders his thoughts away. The film is long and there are several elements that seem contrived. Time is clearly distorted in this film but the film does reproduce a sense of the lazy quest Moskowitz took.

This is not a movie that the dad from Family Guy would like. It's short on action and even the drama is stretched thin. There is something very soothing about the book talk, between authors, readers, critics, professors, agents and publishers. It is the kind of movie that made me wish that I read more, and a movie that suits the list maker that I am; at the end of the credits scrolls a list of all the books mentioned in the film. This is a movie for people who like going to bookstores for fun, who like to hold books and pick them off the shelf and like to put their books on shelves.