There are only a few authors that I really, really like. Cormac McCarthy, Kent Haruf, William Gay, Charles Frazier (who seems to be a one and done guy), maybe a few more.
Sadly (more for him than me, I guess), my favorite writer, Larry Brown, died recently. Since the guys I like write something like one book every 5 years, I need to find more good writers to fill my reading needs. Fortunately, I found a new one.
I just finished An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg, and it was utterly excellent. If his other novel, which I have ordered from Amazon, is as good as this one, he may become my favorite writer. His characters are deep and believable. His dialog is perfect. I really like this book and have high hopes for more good books from him.
I learned after reading this book that it has been made into a movie by Robert Redford, which would have concerned me had I known that before I read the book because of the “chick book” implications. I can’t speak for the movie, but the book is in the Kent Haruf, William Gay mold- only maybe a little better.
When I was reading the book, I did think about who should play the characters in a movie (although I didn’t know about the movie at the time). Morgan Freeman is the only choice for Mitch, and he plays him in the movie. Redford is a horrible choice for Einar- Einar is older and much tougher. Jennifer Lopez as Jean also strikes me as a “get fannies in the seats” choice. Elizabeth Shue would be better. The girl who plays Griff is new, but she better be good and cool, because the character she plays is both.
It’s a rare treat to find a good new author. I hope the movie does the book justice, but based on the cast, I bet it doesn’t (other than Morgan Freeman).
Technorati Tags:
book review
Newsome.Org 