Late author John Williams' novel "Stoner" was awarded the 2013 Waterstone Book Prize.

The novel beat Barnes' "Levels of Life" and Stephen Collins' graphic debut, "The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil" and three other books to the title.

The book was published in 1965 and received rave reviews from the New Yorker, which called it the "perfect novel." Unfortunately, the book met with its untimely end when it went out of print after selling only 2,000 copies.

The novel has been dubbed "Lazarus literature" by publishers because it rose from the grave to achieve commercial success. Stoner was first reissued in 2006 and booksellers decide to champion the novel after noticing a reprinted edition's potential of topping European book charts, and enjoying a good graph due to recommendations.

Ian McEwan's promotion of the book added fuel to its raging success. Actor Tom Hanks called it "one of the most fascinating things that you've ever come across" as well.

Waterstones' managing director James Daunt said in a BBC report: "It's incredible that Stoner nearly disappeared, but supremely gratifying that we have played some small part in bringing it back to British readers' attentions. 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."

According to the New Yorker, "Stoner" is "the greatest American novel you've ever heard of."

Williams, who died in 1994, penned four novels and two collections of poetry during his career. Another novel, Augustus, which was published in 1972, gained him a National Book Award for Fiction in the US. His fifth novel, "The Sleep of Reason" was unfinished at the time of his death.