Eclipse (Trumbo)
Encyclopedia
Eclipse is Dalton Trumbo
's first novel published in 1935. The novel is about a town and its people written in the social realist style. The town, which Trumbo calls "Shale City," was modeled on Grand Junction, Colorado
, where Trumbo lived from 1908 until he left for the University of Colorado
in 1924. Trumbo's daughter Nikola writes in a forward to a new edition of Eclipse that the character John Abbott was a substitute for Trumbo's father and "was based on the real-life Grand Junction citizen W.J. Moyer, (who) was also destroyed (as his father had been) by the depression." The new edition, published by the Mesa County Public Library Foundation in 2005, includes a list that matches Grand Junction residents to characters in the book and acknowledges that the book's sometimes harsh portrayal of Grand Junction made it controversial in Trumbo's hometown.
Dalton Trumbo
James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
's first novel published in 1935. The novel is about a town and its people written in the social realist style. The town, which Trumbo calls "Shale City," was modeled on Grand Junction, Colorado
Grand Junction, Colorado
The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...
, where Trumbo lived from 1908 until he left for the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
in 1924. Trumbo's daughter Nikola writes in a forward to a new edition of Eclipse that the character John Abbott was a substitute for Trumbo's father and "was based on the real-life Grand Junction citizen W.J. Moyer, (who) was also destroyed (as his father had been) by the depression." The new edition, published by the Mesa County Public Library Foundation in 2005, includes a list that matches Grand Junction residents to characters in the book and acknowledges that the book's sometimes harsh portrayal of Grand Junction made it controversial in Trumbo's hometown.
Editions
- Trumbo, Dalton. (2005). Eclipse. Mesa County Public Library Foundation. ISBN 0-9772015-0-3