© Columbia University Press
The Cinema of John Sayles: Lone Star
Paper, 224 pages,
ISBN: 978-1-905674-27-5
$25.00
March, 2009
Cloth, 224 pages,
ISBN: 978-1-905674-28-2
Wallflower Press
$80.00
"Finally we have a full-length critical study of Sayles worthy of the films themselves. Bould's wide-ranging theoretical sophistication, his extensive scholarly research and his intelligent sensitivity to cinema as an art form and to the details of particular movies all combine to make this book a model of how to write about a director's oeuvre. This volume is an ideal vade mecum for those making their first acquaintance with Sayles' extraordinary films, but also has much to teach even those who have been following Sayles' career closely from the beginning. " — Carl Freedman, Louisiana State University
"This book offers a remarkably stimulating and insightful analysis of John Sayles' writing, screenplays and films. The author shows a nuanced understanding of vital theorists including Marx, Engels, Althusser, Gramsci, Bakhtin, Freud and Lukács, and applies each brilliantly in his probing analysis of Sayles' views on identity and community, history and storytelling, class and ethnicity, language and power. Bould's analysis celebrates Sayles' work through illuminating and exciting perspectives. He shows a thorough knowledge of current Sayles scholarship, answers Sayles' critics in helpful ways, and develops his own informative perspective. He is thoroughly conversant with modern and postmodern theorists, with ideas and debates concerning naturalism and realism, with genre and auteur studies, and with technical aspects of film composition. In every instance, Bould first clarifies ideas that have often been muddied in other writers' interpretation and application. He then astutely uses important concepts in his own analyses to open up productive avenues of thought on Sayles' work. This admirably coherent, clear, and scholarly work will stimulate a much greater understanding of Sayles' screenplays and films as well as fruitful discussion. – " — Diane Carson, St. Louis Community College at Meramec