"A vivid portrait of life in the American outback." -
San Francisco Chronicle "A discovery... what makes the book so affecting is that everything is approached with a boy's generous and unwearied heart." -
Big Sky Journal "The cruel, punishing sound of the wind; the rich, earthy smell of horses; the bitter joy of boy becoming man--Spragg's spare but sensual essays will resonate not only with males and horse lovers, but also with anyone who treasures an examined life." -
Utne Reader "A piercing voice from the heartland, this resonant autobiography weds the venerable Western tradition of frontier exploration of self and nature with the masculine school of writing stretching from Hemingway to Mailer." -
Publishers Weekly "This is a book that deserves many readers." -Larry McMurty
"Here is a book for women to read to learn the hearts of men. Here is a book for men to read to curse what they have lost. This soulful book walks us to a place of restoration through the big wide open of Wyoming. Mark Spragg's words, his stories are a fine example of blood writing, every sentence alive." -Terry Tempest Williams
"Stirring, evocative, finely nuanced, gritty-marvelous!" -Gretel Ehrlich, author of
The Solace of Open Spaces
Mark Spragg grew up on the oldest dude ranch in Wyoming, a place of unrelenting winds, pitiless blizzards, fierce rivers, and the men who work there have to be tough to survive. He writes lyrically of this world, its animals - horses, bears, elk - and of its people, in particular his parents and John, an old cowboy who became his mentor.