Books by Mark Spragg
"Where Rivers Change Direction" (University of Utah Press, 1999), a memoir of growing up on a dude ranch near Yellowstone National Park. The account includes everything from insights gleaned guiding pack rides and tales of youthful pranks, to taking care of his dying mother.
"The Fruit of Stone" (Riverhead Trade, 2003), Spragg's first novel, which examines the lives of people involved in a romantic triangle. Best friends Barnum McEban and Bennett Reilly travel the West following Gretchen, who was McEban's old girlfriend and Reilly's wife.
"An Unfinished Life" (Knopf, 2004), a story of grief and reconciliation. Jean Gilkyson returns to her hometown of Ishawooa, Wyo., seeking shelter with her father-in-law, Einer, who hasn't forgiven her for his son's death. Einer grows to love his granddaughter, Griff, while also taking care of his friend, Mitch, who was mauled by a grizzly.
In 2005, "An Unfinished Life" was released as a film starring Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez.
Spragg and his wife, Virginia Spragg, wrote the screenplay for "An Unfinished Life" at the same time as the book.
"It was a cottage experiment in how an idea might be moved forward in two different mediums," he said, adding that they didn't expect to sell the script or the book.
"Everyone thought, 'Boy are those people shrewd,' but quite frankly we weren't anywhere near that smart," Spragg said. "It was sort of an accident -- an entertaining one that we enjoyed quite a lot."
"Bone Fire" (Knopf, 2010) continues the story of the Gilkyson and McEban families. Griff has dropped out of college to care for 80-year-old Einer, and Jean's marriage to the town sheriff is strained by illness and alcohol. Einer's old friend, Barnumn McEban, is caring for a 10-year-old boy whose mother has gone looking for spiritual enlightenment.
Spragg is currently working on a new novel, but doesn't want to disclose many details. "It's still too new. I'm still developing characters and working on it, so I'm a little tentative about talking about it," he said.
He will say that unlike the past three novels, this one is not set in the fictional Wyoming town of Ishawooa.
"I satisfied all my curiosity of the generations of those people in that town," he said. "I've moved on to another group of people and become curious about their lives."
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