A Moment with John Sayles

Most people know John Sayles as the filmmaker and screenwriter behind such crazy-genre cult classics as Brother from Another Planet, The Howling and Piranha, but he’s also the author of several award-winning books. Sayles’s most recent novel, A Moment in the Sun, is a 968-page toe-crusher of a tome that...

By Thorin Klosowski

May 26, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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Most people know John Sayles as the filmmaker and screenwriter behind such crazy-genre cult classics as Brother from Another Planet, The Howling and Piranha, but he’s also the author of several award-winning books. Sayles’s most recent novel, A Moment in the Sun, is a 968-page toe-crusher of a tome that starts in 1897 as the Yukon Gold Rush takes hold and follows a wide cast of characters across six countries. A panoramic view of the turn of the last century unfolds as the mostly unconnected characters live out their daily lives as boxers, miners, diplomats and everything else imaginable.

The book is a well-researched take on the historical novel that concentrates more on individual stories than larger themes. As a result, it almost requires a reader to keep an encyclopedia on hand at all times — which makes the fact that Sayles will be at the Tattered Cover Book Store at 2526 East Colfax Avenue at 2 p.m. today to read from the book and answer questions very appealing. Admission is free; for more information, go to www.tatteredcover.com or call 303-322-7727.

Read about Westword editor Patricia Calhoun’s bit part in a John Sayles movie at showandtelldenver.com
Sun., May 29, 2 p.m., 2011

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