An Unfinished Life

August 9, 2004
An old rancher reluctantly takes in his daughter-in-law and granddaughter in this moving and well-crafted, if rather derivative, second novel by Spragg (The Fruit of Stone
). Jean Gilkyson hasn't been back to her hometown of Ishawooa, Wyo., since her husband, Griffin, died in a car accident. Jean was driving, and Griffin's father, Einar, has never forgiven her for his son's death. Ten years and four boyfriends later, Jean has run out of money and options. With her precocious nine-year-old daughter, Griff, she escapes boyfriend number four, a smirking brute named Roy. Einar isn't happy to see mother or daughter, but Griff loves his log house and ranch life. She makes friends right away with Mitch, Einar's old Vietnam War buddy, who's been mauled by a grizzly and is horribly scarred, and gradually wins over her grandfather. Meanwhile, Jean is charming the town sheriff, which comes in handy when Roy tracks her down. Spragg's spare storytelling is rock solid, but he covers well-worn territory in language familiar to readers of Cormac McCarthy and Kent Haruf, never quite striking off on his own. Agent, Nancy Stauffer Cahoon.
(Sept.)

Forecast:
A Miramax film version of the novel starring Jennifer Lopez and Robert Redford will be released in December 2004; if it's a hit, it could move lots of books. First printing 75,000; 11-city author tour; BOMC featured alternate, Literary Guild and Doubleda
y Book Club alternates.

May 1, 2004
Single mom Jean Gilkyson, whose husband died when she was pregnant, feels compelled to flee an abusive boyfriend. But the only place she can go is the Wyoming home of a father-in-law who despises her. From the author of the celebrated memoir Where Rivers Change Direction; with an 11-city author tour.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2004
Spragg completes a sparkling hat trick with his second novel, following his equally fine debut, " The Fruit of Stone" (a " Booklist" Top 10 First Novel in 2002), and his much-acclaimed memoir " Where Rivers Change Direction" (1999). Returning again to his home turf, the high-country horse ranches of Wyoming, Spragg tells a riveting tale of hard-won friendship, old wounds and fresh pain, and love lost and found. Attempting to escape the latest in a long string of abusive boyfriends, Jean Gilkerson, traveling with her nine-year-old daughter, Grif, is on the run with no place to go. No place, that is, except Wyoming, home of her former father-in-law, Einar, who holds her responsible for the accidental death of his son. Alternating from the points of view of Einar, Jean, Grif, and Einar's war buddy and best friend, Mitch, Spragg charts the bone-against-bone meeting of a rugged-individualist rancher and his equally headstrong daughter-in-law, but he shows how Grif and Mitch, each with burdens of their own, manage to temper the conflict with humanity, forcing the combatants to reveal their own vulnerability and face their demons. Generations come of age, each in its own way, as tenderness survives stubbornness, pain, and silence. Each word counts for more than it says in this achingly beautiful story of courage and endurance. Spragg belongs in the same category with such tough-and-tender western writers as William Kittredge, Ivan Doig, and Larry Watson.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)

October 4, 2004
Audio reviews reflect PW
's assessment of the audio adaptation of a book and should be quoted only in reference to the audio version.
Fiction
AN UNFINISHED LIFE
Mark Spragg
, read by Tony Amendola and Judith Marx. HighBridge Audio
, unabridged, six CDs, 7 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 1-56511-900-2

A sober reading by Amendola and Marx fits the slow pacing of Spragg's newest offering (following The Fruit of Stone
), which uses spare, beautiful language to tell a tale of hardship, resentment and reconciliation in smalltown Wyoming. Both veteran narrators give strong performances, though Amendola does a better job than Marx in personifying the book's more idiosyncratic characters—such as the crippled cowboy, Mitch, or the spunky, nine-year-old Griff Gilkyson. A few aspects of the production seem out of sync, however. For one, the ominous music that introduces and concludes each disc is too heavy for the subject matter. It conveys a sense of impeding doom that would be more appropriate in a thriller or even a tale of imminent tragedy, rather than this ultimately hopeful story of tried but tender human relationships. The decision to use two readers also seems unnecessary, as the unpredictable shifts between narrators at chapter breaks shake the listener out of the story. Overall, the recording would have benefited from a simpler approach, but it still offers a stirring look at the importance of individual conflicts and emotions. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Forecasts, Aug. 9).

Starred review from June 1, 2004
"An unfinished life" adorns the gravestone of Griffin Gilkyson (1972-93). We never meet Griffin, but his life-or, to be more accurate, his death-infuses every page of Spragg's masterly second novel (after The Fruit of Stone). If Griffin had not died, his wife, Jean, wouldn't be jumping from man to man to man and finally running away from No. 4. With nowhere else to go, Jean and her nine-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Griff, make their way to Ishawooa, WY, home of her father-in-law, Einar. If Griffin were alive, maybe Einar wouldn't hate Jean and maybe his best friend, Mitch, wouldn't have been mauled by a grizzly bear. (Now Einar must inject Mitch each morning with morphine.) And if Griffin were alive, Griff would have known she had a grandfather. Spragg draws wonderful portraits, particularly of the old men and of this strong, young girl who doesn't want to make too much noise and anger the adults. Griff becomes the salve, the linchpin that secures her mother and grandfather to a place of acceptance and in so doing discovers her own place in the world. A film from Miramax is scheduled for December. Highly recommended for general fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/04.]-Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.