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authors ~ books ~ readings A Moment in the Sun
REVIEWED BY
JULIET LITMAN
MONUMENTAL NEW NOVEL FROM MASTER STORYTELLER JOHN SAYLES
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t’s 1897. Gold has been discovered in the Yukon. New York is under the sway of Hearst and Pulitzer. And in a few months, an American battleship will explode in a Cuban harbor, plunging the U.S. into war. This is the story of that extraordinary moment: the turn of the twentieth century, as seen by one of the greatest storytellers of our time. Spanning five years and half a dozen countries, John Sayles’s new novel, A Moment in the Sun, takes the whole era in its sights—from the white-racist coup in Wilmington, North Carolina to the bloody dawn of U.S. interventionism overseas. Shot through with a lyrical intensity and stunning detail that recalls Doctorow and Deadwood both, this is a story as big as its subject: his-
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“Crackling with rare historical details, spiked with caustic humor… his most spectacular work of fiction to date.”
~ Booklist
tory rediscovered through the lives of the people who made it happen. John Sayles’s previous novels include Pride of the Bimbos, Los Gusanos, and the National Book Award–nominated Union Dues. He has directed seventeen feature films, including Matewan, Lone Star, and Eight Men Out, and received a John Steinbeck Award, a John Cassavetes Award,
IF YOU On Saturday, May 7 at 7 p.m. GO John Sayles reads from and signs
his new novel, A Moment in the Sun, at Malaprop’s Bookstore & Cafe, 55 Haywood St., Asheville. Phone (828) 2546734, or visit www.malaprops.com
If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This
ompared to the writing of Alice Munro, Mary Gaitskill, and Lorrie Moore, Robin Black’s debut collection of short stories is unconventional, intelligent, fiercely uncompromising, and unforgettable. A philandering father learns the limits of his ability to fool his blind daughter about who he is. An artist paints the portrait of a man suffering from dementia while she mourns the end of a long love affair. A fifth
REVIEWED BY
BARBARA FILLON
grade show-and-tell session reveals the world to be stranger and more dangerous than one girl ever imagined. A father commits suicide on the same day his daughter’s bathwater is charged with electricity, leaving her struggling to find meaning in the coincidence. A young widow finds herself envious of an acquaintance
MARIJO MOORE PRESENTS “A BOOK OF SPIRITUAL WISDOM” AT CRYSTAL VISIONS BOOKSTORE
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a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Writer’s Guild of America, and two Academy Award nominations. Sayles’s latest film, Amigo, was completed in 2010.
ormer Rapid River Magazine Poetry Editor, MariJo Moore, reads her latest book, A Book of Spiritual Wisdom: For All Days, at Crystal Visions bookstore and gallery in Hendersonville. Wisdom is designed as a month-to-month journey through the year in which Moore tells stories culled from her 20+ years as a spiritual intuitive. “I am gifted with spiritual insight,” Moore says, “the ability to be a ‘medium’ for those who have passed over…” She considers herself blessed with a gift strong enough to be able to “be used by Spirit” to help others in times of need. Her intuitive readings, eerily accurate and often quite funny, bring comfort in a unique way from other spiritual workers — she’s a psychic with a practical touch. She finds more and more people
seeking spiritual insights for today’s complex life situations. “We are now in a spiritual shift where we must deal with everything that has happened to us.” Moore says. “We need to consider the possibilities of future happenings.” A question and answer period will follow the reading and discussion. For more information about MariJo Moore visit www. marijomoore.com
IF YOU GO: MariJo Moore presents A
Book of Spiritual Wisdom, Saturday, June 4 at 1 p.m. Crystal Visions, 5426 Asheville Highway, Hendersonville, NC 28791. Phone (828) 687-1193 or visit www.crystalvisionsbooks.com for more details. Reservations not needed, but come early for a good seat.
who has a prosthetic leg, and a living spouse. A dying woman fantasizes about persuading her selfish, bullying neighbor to see the value of her ebbing life. A mother gains sympathy for her adult daughter’s infidelity even as her own world begins to expand in surprising ways. A man whose life is newly filled with love tries to reconnect with the daughter who staged her own disappearance years before. An accident on an Italian holiday and an unexpected connection with a stranger cause a woman to question her lifelong assumptions about herself. These stories are populated with men and women who face losses both real and unexpected and who emerge from the experience sometimes stronger, sometimes newly uncertain, but never the same. Fearlessly honest, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This exposes the ironies of our lives, the negotiations of everyday happiness. It will dazzle you. The winner of many awards and a recipient of fellowships from the Leeway Foundation and the MacDowell Colony, Robin Black is a graduate of the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. She lives in Philadelphia.
MAY
We host numerous Readings, Bookclubs, as well as Poetrio!
PARTIAL LISTING More events posted online.
READINGS & BOOKSIGNINGS Tuesday, May 3 from 6-8 p.m. Kenneth Butcher – The Middle of the Air, about a radioactive shipment hijacking. Wednesday, May 4 at 7 p.m. Localism & Social Enterprise with Chris Sullivan of Home Free Bagels. Thursday, May 5 at 7 p.m. Gary Shteyngart – Super Sad True Love Story. Friday, May 6 at 7 p.m. Michael Parker – The Watery Part of the World. Thursday, May 12 at 7 p.m. Katie Crouch discusses her first young adult novel, The Magnolia League. Friday, May 13 at 7 p.m. Tatjana Soli – The Lotus Eaters, the lives of three photographers during the fall of Saigon. Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m. Therese Fowler, author of the novels Reunion, Souvenir, and her latest, Exposure. Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m. Tom Franklin – Crooked Letter – friendship, secrets and loneliness in rural Mississippi. Thursday, May 19 at 7 p.m. Opening reception for Gary Hemsoth’s evocative black and white photographs. Friday, May 20 at 7 p.m. Karl Marlantes – Matterhorn, a story about Vietnam. Monday, May 23 at 7 p.m. Andrea Lankford – Ranger Confidential – tales of our National Parks. Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m. Karen Cox – Dreaming of Dixie: How the South was Created in American Popular Culture. Friday, May 27 at 7 p.m. David Zurick – Southern Crossings: Where Geography and Photography Meet. Saturday, May 28 at 7 p.m. Jon-Jon Goulian – The Man in the Gray Flannel Skirt! The first 5 men to show up in skirts will receive a free copy of the book.
55 Haywood St.
828-254-6734 • 800-441-9829 Monday-Saturday 9AM to 9PM Sunday 9AM to 7PM
IF YOU Robin Black reading, May 9 at GO Malaprop’s Bookstore & Cafe,
55 Haywood Street in Asheville, Wednesday, May 11 at 7 p.m. Vol. 14, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2011 27