John Clayton's Blog

The bad news: the New York Times buries their review of Mark Spragg's wonderful novel "An Unfinished Life" in something called the "Chronicle" column, with three other novels, in tomorrow's Book Review.

The good news: They love it!

Spragg unfolds a marvelous, unsentimental family story. Griff is wary at first, trying to read the old man. When he's quiet, she doesn't know what to think: ''She can't tell if he's mad or really mad.'' That's one of the best sentences I've ever read about the way an abused child sees the world.

...The peace these hard characters make for themselves is sweet and difficult and very satisfying for the reader. Spragg's people speak a rough, funny, laconic dialogue that renders them not just believable but weirdly lovable.

Here's the full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/books/review/07DEDERER.html

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