John Sayles Reading and Book Signing

Pudd’nhead Books, Cinema St. Louis, and Webster University Film Series present a reading and signing by John Sayles of his new book, "A Moment in the Sun," at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves.

A pioneering American independent filmmaker, Sayles has written and directed such extraordinary works as "Return of the Secaucus Seven," "Eight Men Out," "Matewan," "City of Hope," and "Lone Star." But he's equally adept as a novelist. His books include "Pride of the Bimbos," the National Book Award-nominated "Union Dues," and "Los Gusanos."

"A Moment in the Sun," his epic new work, is set in 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. Spanning five years and a half-dozen countries, this is the unforgettable story of an extraordinary moment, the turn of the 20th century, as seen by one of the greatest storytellers of our time.

Shot through with a lyrical intensity and stunning detail that recall Doctorow and “Deadwood” both, “A Moment in the Sun” takes the whole era in its sights – from the white-racist coup in Wilmington, N.C., to the bloody dawn of U.S. interventionism in the Philippines.

Beginning with Hod Brackenridge searching for his fortune in the North and hurtling forward on the voices of a breathtaking range of men and women – Royal Scott, an African-American infantryman whose life outside the military has been destroyed; Diosdado Concepcion, a Filipino insurgent fighting against his country’s new colonizers; and more than a dozen others, including Mark Twain and President McKinley’s assassin – this is a story as big as its subject: history rediscovered through the lives of the people who made it happen.