Shrewd storytelling. A persuasive and gifted killer. Two acquaintances. One evil, one perplexed.
“What happens when a decent man befriends an indecent one? How long can evil remain locked away?” — New York Times Book Review.
The North Valley Public Library in Stevensville is hosting author Kim Zupan for a discussion of his novel, “The Ploughmen” on Tuesday, January 28 at 7 p.m.
Academy Award-winning actor and director Ed Harris is working to bring this novel to the screen. Harris has scouted Montana several times and intends to film in Montana. “The more I spent time with [the novel] the more I liked it because of the characters, and it’s a really good story,” Ed Harris said of Zupan’s novel.
“’The Ploughmen’ is an intensely Western novel, though not in the Zane Grey/Louis L’Amour sense of the word. There are no white and black hats, no good guys chasing bad guys on horseback. It’s a portrait of the West as a sometimes desolate and cold place, full of possibility, maybe, but also full of danger from every corner. It’s a modern West, caught between the romance of the frontier and the mundane, harsh realities of living in the present-day United States.
“And it’s absolutely beautiful, from its tragic opening scene to its tough, necessary end. Zupan is an unsparing writer, but also a generous, deeply compassionate one, and the relationship between Millimaki and Gload is one of the most troubling, truest ones in recent American fiction. “’The Ploughmen’ is, finally, a novel about the fine line between fight and surrender — which is sometimes the same line between life and death.” — Excerpted from Michael Schaub, NPR.
Zupan will also share highlights from his new work, now in revisions, titled “Slaughterhorse Road.” There will be time for Q & A after the discussion.
A native Montanan, Kim lives in Missoula and grew up in and around Great Falls, where much of “The Ploughmen” is set. For twenty-five years, he made a living as a carpenter while pursuing his writing. He has also worked as a smelter man, pro rodeo bareback rider, ranch hand, Alaska salmon fisherman, and teacher. Zupan holds an MFA from the University of Montana.
Advance registration for the talk is recommended. North Valley Public Library is located at 208 Main Street, Stevensville. For more information, call 406-777-5061 or visit northvalleylibrary.org. All library programs are free and open to the public.