For more than four decades, John Sayles has occupied a singular place in American storytelling. Born in Schenectady, Sayles earned acclaim as a filmmaker - with films such as 'The Return of Secaucus Seven,' 'Eight Men Out,' and 'Lone Star' - before turning increasingly to fiction, with historical novels that bring overlooked corners of the past into vivid focus.
His new novel 'Crucible' is a sweeping historical epic that takes readers deep into the world of Henry Ford and the Motor City between 1927 and 1945. Sayles casts his net wide across this transformative era, capturing the rise and fall of industrial fortunes, the bitter struggles of workers and union organizers, and the cultural collisions of race, class, and power in America’s heartbeat.
Against the backdrop of Ford’s River Rouge plants, the failed Amazonian experiment of Fordlandia, and the turbulent streets of Depression-era Detroit, 'Crucible' blends real and imagined lives into a story that feels both intimate and grand. Sayles’s novel reminds us how the forces of progress can reshape — and sometimes fracture — a nation.
- Feb 19: Oblong Books, Rhinecliff, NY @ 6:30 PM
- Feb 20: Northshire Bookstore, Saratoga Springs, NY @ 6PM
