The Work: A Jigsaw Memoir (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781954744967)

"In Sklar's memoir, a journalist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter reflects on his professional and personal journey....A beautifully written account of a principled life."-Kirkus, starred review

"Sklar creates a sensitive, illuminating portrait of his life through loving accounts of the people who have truly moved and changed him."-Publishers Weekly, Editor's Pick

In this moving non-fiction collection, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Sklar (JFK, with Oliver Stone) leads readers on an unpredictable personal journey through seven decades of our collective history and politics.

Sklar's wide-ranging essays take us from the hysteria and fear of the 1950s Hollywood blacklist to his collaboration with writer-director Oliver Stone on the screenplay of JFK and the glamour of the Academy Awards. From the Sixties counter culture of California to the Black Gullah-Geechee culture of a South Carolina Sea Island cut off from mainstream America. From the Japanese internment camps of World War II to the coffee fields of 1980s war-torn Nicaragua. From thoroughbred horses running at Saratoga Race Course to a mangy street dog looking for love in the zalo of Oaxaca, Mexico. At every stop on this memorable journey, Sklar draws vivid portraits of unforgettable brave souls doing the hard work to create a more peaceful, just, and loving world.