An Unfinished Life

Mark Spragg

ISBN 10: 1400042011 / ISBN 13: 9781400042012

Published by Knopf, New York, 2004

About this Item

About the book, from the publisher: "Jean Gilkyson has a history of choosing the wrong men. After yet another night of argument turned to violence with her boyfriend, Roy, Jean knows it's time to leave-if not for herself, then for her ten-year-old daughter, Griff. But the only place they can afford to go is Ishawooa, Wyoming, where Jean's family is dead and her deceased husband's father Einar wishes Jean was too. Of course, Griff knows none of this-only that here in Wyoming, with a grandfather she has never known and his crippled friend Mitch, she may finally be able to find a home." About the author, from the publisher: "Mark Spragg is the author ofWhere Rivers Change Direction,a memoir that won the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers award, and the novelsThe Fruit of StoneandAn Unfinished Life,which was chosen by theRocky Mountain Newsas the Best Book of 2004. All three were top-ten Book Sense selections and have been translated into fifteen languages. He lives with his wife, Virginia, in Wyoming." Spragg continued the story of An Unfinished Life with the novel Bone Fire in 2010. Reviews: "The best parts of An Unfinished Life,.are its ancillary details - Einar's routine around the ranch, the desultory clutter of the sheriff's office - and the glimpses of the communal world that exists beyond its immediate focus, full of ground-down lives and soured destinies. Here, in half-a-dozen crisp little vignettes of small-town life.the novel.starts to work on its own terms." D.J. Taylor, The Guardian, November 12, 2004. "[Spragg] keeps the dialogue sparse and taut, each sentence feeling as if it was carefully thought through before spoken.What lingers long after readers turn the final page is an unforgettable portrayal of the irrepressible Griff. She is the heartbeat of this novel and Spragg has created a masterpiece in her character. And even though the book takes place in the West, Spragg has expanded his impressive skills by giving us a book that will resonate with everyone from Laramie to Eau Claire and beyond." Stephen J. Lyons, San Francisco Chronicle, September 5, 2004. Made into a movie starring Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, and Morgan Freeman in 2005. Screenplay by the author and his wife, Virginia Korus Spragg. ABEDESC After another night of argument and violence from another wrong man, Jean Gilkyson knows it's time to leave. But the only place she can go with her ten year old daughter, Griff, is the place she least wants: Ishawooa, Wyoming, where her own family is dead and her late husband's father, Einer, wishes Jean was, too. But all Griff knows is that this is, finally, a place where she might find a home, with the grandfather she has never known and his old friend Griff. Spragg continued the story with his 2010 novel, Bone Fire. An Unfinished Life was made into a movie in 2005, staring Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, and Morgan Freeman, and with a screenplay by Spragg and his wife,Virginia Korus Spragg. This copy of the book is a signed, new, first edition in perfect condition.

Seller Inventory # 138

Bibliographic Details

• Title: An Unfinished Life
• Publisher: Knopf, New York
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1400042011
• ISBN 13: 9781400042012
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Modern First Editions

About this title

Synopsis

“One of the truest and most original new voices in American letters,” as Kent Haruf has written, Mark Spragg now tells the story of a complex, prodigal homecoming.

Jean Gilkyson is floundering in a trailer house in Iowa with yet another brutal boyfriend when she realizes this kind of life has got to stop, especially for the sake of her daughter, Griff. But the only place they can run to is Ishawooa, Wyoming, where Jean’s loved ones are dead and her father-in-law, the only person who could take them in, wishes that she was too. For a decade, Einar Gilkyson has blamed her for the accident that took his son’s life, and he has chosen to go on living himself largely because his oldest friend couldn’t otherwise survive. They’ve been bound together like brothers since the Korean War and now face old age on a faltering ranch, their intimacy even more acute after Mitch was horribly crippled while Einar helplessly watched.

Of course, ten-year-old Griff knows none of this–only that her father is dead and her mother has bad taste in men. But once she encounters this grandfather she’d never heard about, and the black cowboy confined to the bunkhouse, with irrepressible courage and great spunk she attempts to turn grievous loss, wrath, and recrimination–to which she’s naturally the most vulnerable–toward reconciliation and love.

Immediately compelling and constantly surprising, rich in character, landscape, and compassion, An Unfinished Life shows a novelist of extraordinary talents in the fullness of his powers.

About the Author

Mark Spragg is the author of Where Rivers Change Direction, a memoir that won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award, and The Fruit of Stone, a novel. Both were top-ten Book Sense selections and have been translated into seven languages. He lives in Cody, Wyoming.