Dow Mossman's last four years have been wild.
From 1999 to 2001 he was tracked by a documentary filmmaker who read Mossman's 32-year-old novel and became obsessed with finding out what had happened to the writer who was never published again.
In 1999, Mark Moskowitz finally found his literary hero and sent Mossman's life into a whirlwind he could have never imagined. Moskowitz produced a film, "The Stone Reader" based on his love of the book, which took him over a quarter century to read, and his two-year odyssey of finding Mossman.
The film has received wide critical acclaim, won awards and most importantly, got Mossman's book, The Stones of Summer, re-released sending him on a long-time-coming book tour across the country. On Saturday, Mossman was welcomed at Barnes and Noble by a large crowd of followers of Moskowitz's movie and Mossman's book.
"I just wanted to make enough money to go to Europe, but I never thought it was Gone With the Wind," Mossman said. "It makes me nervous is what it makes me. I don't disown it though."
Mossman has never let up on his criticism of the book that has gathered so many fans recently. It's hard to tell whether this is modesty or just a grown-up Mossman embarrassed of his naive youth. He finished his book at the age of 27, but said he had it in his head since he was 15.
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"At that age I was really happy," Mossman said. "I was young and stupid enough then to think that I didn't need any money."
When Stones of Summer was released, it received stunning reviews, but the publishing house never promoted it and Mossman only made $7,000. Since that time, the publishers let it slip out of print and even the determined Moskowitz had a hard time locating copies of it in 1999.
After flying all over the county, doing endless interviews and finding himself at the brink of insanity, Moskowitz said he found Mossman in Cedar Falls, Iowa. In the film, Mossman insists he was extraordinarily introverted when Moskovitz asked to meet him, but four years later, quite the opposite seems to be true.
Mossman read very little of his book at Barnes and Noble because he spent most of his time telling antidotes, cracking jokes and warming up the room with his unique personality and wit.
"When the book was first published, some said that it is about growing up absurd, and I would accept that if they said it was about growing up seriously absurd," Mossman said.
Mossman may be an absurd guy, but in that good, quirky kind of way. He still won't use a computer for his revisions; he says he considers himself a misanthrope, but in a positive way and still isn't convinced that he wrote a literary masterpiece no matter how many people tell him so.
"Even Mark Moskowitz, my savior, took 29 years to read this," he said. "So if you get bogged down don't worry about it."
For a review of "Stone Reader" and an interview with the director, Mark Moskowitz, go to www.dailylobo.com.
