Product Description

This work is part of the "Continuum Contemporaries" series giving readers accessible and informative introductions to 30 of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential contemporary novels. It contains a biography of the novelist, a full-length study of the novel, a summary of how the novel was received upon publication, a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, and a wide range of suggestions for further reading.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #205474 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

From the Publisher
This is an excellent guide to Carol Shields's novel of 1993. It features an interview with Shields, a full-length analysis of the novel, and a great deal more. If you're studying this novel, reading it for your book club, or if you simply want to know more about it, you'll find this guide informative and helpful.

About the Author
Abby Werlock teaches English at St Olaf College, USA.

Customer Reviews

Simply Beautiful
The Stone Diaries is my favorite book, and I've read a lot of books.It's difficult to put this book into words or to clearly convey the emotion it evokes. It is the story of Daisy, a quite ordinary woman, and the author, who I'm sorry to say recently passed away, shows us how it is exactly that ordinariness that makes every human being so precious. She shows us that people have common threads that unite us. She also shows us that we ordinary folk still have qualities and experiences unique to us. As for Carol Shield's writing: Extraordinary.

a reader from Seattle, Washington
This book came out at just the right time! My book group is reading Pulitzer Prize winning novels, and we're scheduled to read The Stone Diaries next week. Imagine my delight when I found Werlock's Reader's Guide in one of our local bookstores....and discovered that she has actually asked Carol Shields some of the questions that our group would like to ask her! This book is filled with great background information, useful interpretation, and thought-provoking questions. If all the books in the series are this good, I'll buy them all!

Book Club Choice!
Even though my Chicago-based book club had already read Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries, we all went out and bought Abby Werlock's guide to our favorite novel. What a help this book has been to us! When we first discussed the novel, we had all sorts of questions, especially about whether Daisy or someone else was speaking at any given time. Well, Werlock's explanation solves it all! And even though she provides many answers to common questions, she asks questions herself, providing even more issues to delve into in this very complex and satisfying book. I recommend it to all devotees of Carol Shields.