''Sideways'' is a 2004 novel by

Rex Pickett Rex Pickett (born July 9, 1952) is an American novelist and filmmaker best known for his novel ''Sideways'', which was adapted into a 2004 movie of the same name directed by Alexander Payne. Career Education and early career Pickett was born ...

. The novel is the first in the '' Sideways Trilogy''.

Plot

The novel is the story of two friends, Miles and Jack, who take a road trip to the Santa Ynez Valley AVA a week before Jack plans to marry. Miles is a recently divorced wine aficionado who struggles to publish his novels. Jack is a charismatic television director who is determined to engage in a short affair before his marriage.

Film adaptation

In 2004, the novel was made into a film, ''

Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama road film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymo ...

'', directed by

Alexander Payne Constantine Alexander Payne (; born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for the films ''Citizen Ruth'' (1996), ''Election'' (1999), '' About Schmidt'' (2002), '' Sideways'' (2004), '' The D ...

. The film received critical acclaim, and won the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

in addition to being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Haden Church) and Best Supporting Actress (Madsen).

Sequels

A self-published sequel to the original novel entitled '' Vertical'' and written by Rex Pickett was released in September 2010. Payne has indicated that he is not interested in directing a sequel to the film based on ''Vertical''. Fox Searchlight owns the rights to the characters, but Payne's lack of interest makes the film a non-starter for Fox. A third novel, entitled ''

Sideways 3 Chile ''Sideways 3 Chile'' is a 2015 novel by Rex Pickett. It is a sequel to his two previous novels ''Sideways'' (2004) and ''Vertical'' (2010) and the third novel in the '' Sideways Trilogy''. ''Sideways 3 Chile'' continues the story of novelist Mi ...

'', focuses on Chilean wineries and was published in 2015.

Stage and musical adaptions

In 2019 it was announced that ''Sideways'' was scheduled to be adapted into a Broadway musical. A play adapted by

from the ''Sideways'' novel was produced at multiple theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom, including at the La Jolla Playhouse. In addition to the musical, it was reported that Rex Pickett had written screenplays based on his two ''Sideways'' sequels already in print, ''Vertical'' and ''Sideways 3 Chile''.

References

2004 American novels American novels adapted into films Novels set in California Books about wine English-language novels {{2000s-novel-stub