John Edward Williams was an American author, editor, and professor whose quietly devastating novels—Butcher’s Crossing (1960), Stoner (1965), and Augustus (1972)—explore ambition, disillusionment, and the inner lives of ordinary people. A WWII veteran and longtime University of Denver professor, Williams received limited attention during his lifetime, but Stoner was rediscovered decades later and became an international bestseller, cementing his reputation as one of the most underrated American novelists of the 20th century.