Event

WHALES, COMEDY, AND THE IMPRESSIONISTS: A COLLISION

About ten years ago, New York Times bestselling comic novelist Christopher Moore decided to find out if there was more to write about whales, other than that they were "big and wet." And that's when he encountered National Geographic photographer Flip Nicklin. Then things got weird. The result was Moore's 2004 novel "Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings," which featured a marine biologist named Clay Demodocus inspired by Nicklin, as well as a whale with the words "BITE ME" written on its fluke.

Now bosom buddies for over a decade, Moore and Nicklin get together at Z Space to showcase Nicklin's new book "Among Giants: A Life with Whales," and give Moore fans a taste of "Sacre Bleu," his 2012 novel set in France and featuring Vincent Van Gogh's murder as a jumping-off point. Moore will talk about art history, with a slide show of comics created from fine art. Nicklin will provide a slide show of his astonishing photographs of whales. What do they have in common? Nicklin's photos have been described as "painting with light." And the Impressionists' artistic quest was to "capture the moment" by "capturing the light." Otherwise, it will just be a good time and a lot of fooling around between two old friends.