In The Broken Spur, author Gary Harmon weaves a fictional
tale of a way of life that evolved as it moved across the country.
It illustrates events which defined the life of generations of
Americans. His story is written in the same drawl that taints his
speech to this day, and why not? The narrative is colored by the
sounds and voices he grew up with. His family operated a large
stockyard in southern Indiana where the language of cowboys,
breeders, and trainers regaled the stories he loved to hear. His
early life was informed by the fact that he handled horses and
cattle daily and rode those skills right onto the pages of The
Broken Spur. Amid the tall tales and bald-faced lies contained
in these chapters is an honest picture of the hard realities of
life on the frontier.
