Directed by Mark Moskowitz
Written by Mark Moskowitz
Starring Carl Brandt, Frank Conroy, Bruce Dobler, Robert C.S. Downs, Robert Ellis, Leslie Fiedler, Ed Gorman, Robert Gottlieb, John Kashiwabara, Mark Moskowitz, Dow Mossman, William Cotter Murray, John Seelye
Genre: Documentary
Country: USA
Runtime: 128 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Evaluation: 9.5/10
by Greg Ferguson






Those of us who heed and nourish our souls each have particular works of art that are more meaningful to us than others. Think of that film, painting, piece of music, or book that you once encountered and left you forever changed, shaping the course of your life from that point on and steering it toward uncharted corners and territories. Now, imagine that virtually all traces of it have vanished from human cognizance (yes, even in this age of the Information Superhighway). Suddenly, you're like a character torn from The Twilight Zone, convinced that what you possess is real and bent on solving the mystery of why you're the only one who thinks so. In Stone Reader, director Mark Moskowitz finds himself in this position.

Back in 1972, Moskowitz read a New York Times rave review of first-time author Dow Mossman's book The Stones Of Summer and flagged the title. He picked it up, kicked it around for a few years without sinking his teeth in, then finally read it and branded it a masterpiece. Since then, Mossman hasn't followed up, the publishing company that released the book folded, and nobody remembers the book or Mossman for that matter. Moskowitz, so in love with literature and so profoundly affected by this single work, is shaken to the core. Thus begins his odyssey, which is variously about finding Mossman, awakening an interest in his book, speculating about "one-and-done" authors, and perhaps most importantly initiating conversations with fellow book-lovers about favourite books.

I was invigorated by this film and swept up by Moskowitz's zeal. That I'm able to write with such enthusiasm about his mission is doubtlessly an extension of the man's energy. Moskowitz is the sort of man who's so
possessed that he actively seeks out every last available copy of the book he can pin down and has them mailed to his address. Strangely enough, he does find some. At first glance, this compulsive need to collect every known copy of the book he loves may seem irrational, carelessly selfish, and rather nihilistic, but what he is actually doing is distributing these copies among his friends. This serves two crucial purposes central to the themes of the film. On a surface level, he can more easily recruit people for his cause, putting additional feelers out there so that the mystery of Dow Mossman may be solved at last. Deeper still, however (and this is where we see that the film is less about Mossman than it is about him), Moskowitz is affirming his own identity by sharing this work of art that is so indelibly a part of him with other people. He is reaching out to them - to us - as if to say "Read this so that you may understand me better. Dow Mossman can tell you things about me that not even I can."

Despite the enormity of the film's subjects, its tone and pace are quite austere and quiet with no really big dramatic moments being lead up to. Whether or not Moskowitz ever meets Mossman and finds the answers to his questions about his life over the last thirty years is beside the point. Of course, we do care about Mossman, and we take Moskowitz's word that it is a shame that so many people may never know how great The Stones Of Summer is (as of this moment I still haven't read it). Mossman's life leading up to the writing of the book and his whereabouts since are vital to its context and remain important aspects of Moskowitz's relationship to it. But they don't comprise the entire relationship, and as such are not the true focus of the film.

Moskowitz confesses several failed attempts at writing his own fiction, yet he is so familiar with books that he has developed a real knack for narrative and storytelling that is evident in this documentary. After all the deliberation and discussion about those "one-and-done" authors who hit the scene with one landmark book only to disappear from sight, I truly hope that Moskowitz does not become a "one-and-done" filmmaker.

(This film was released on DVD on February 17, 2004, and may be rented from Spin-It Video Rentals, located at 15 Lewis St. in Moncton.)