Stoner wins Waterstones Book of the Year 2013 Stoner was brought into Waterstones by a member of staff on the recommendation of a friend, and is now selling thousands of copies each week. A spokesman for Waterstones said it was "being widely hailed as a classic of modern literature," with "a legion of high-profile fans including Ian McEwan, Bret Easton Ellis, Nick Hornby, and Julian Barnes." Tom Hanks, the actor, has described the work as "one of the most fascinating things that you've ever come across." It is now expected to be a Christmas bestseller, with last year's winner, Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook by Russell Norman, seeing a sales increase of 1,700 per cent. Stoner beat a shortlist that included Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, who was also nominated for the Costa Prize; Levels of Life by Julian Barnes, a former Booker winner and Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life by Nina Stibbe. Mr Daunt said: "It has done it the old-fashioned way, with recommendations through word of mouth. It shows how we can still discover books in this day and age. Now we know that a quiet, gentle book which changes you when you read it can suddenly be rediscovered and get this impetus behind it. To say it had been forgotten suggests that Stoner was known about in the first place, but it was never really known. It was a complete flop when it was published and it disappeared. And now suddenly this magic has happened. He added: "The year of publication is of no import - this is the book everyone has been talking about in 2013, the very least we can do is name it our Book of the Year." Frances Macmillan, senior editor at Vintage Classics, the book's publishers, said: "It has been so wonderful to see Stoner find the wide readership and rapturous reviews it truly deserves. The support from booksellers has been inspirational. Zadie Smith, the author, said this year that winning book prizes was "everything" for young or little-known writers, arguing the state of modern publishing made it "essential" in getting noticed.