Savage studied writing at Montana State College (today the University of Montana), where he met Brassil Fitzgerald (1896–1962), a professor of English literature and a novelist,[a] who introduced Savage to his only daughter, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, who then left to study English Literature at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.

Savage published his first story, "The Bronc Stomper", in Coronet in 1937, to some critical success, and then joined Elizabeth at Colby.

After their marriage, the Savages lived briefly in Chicago before moving back to Montana in 1942 to work on the Brenner ranch.

World War II made it hard to find ranch hands, and Charles Brenner needed help.

But Savage still felt out of place on the ranch, and he dropped the Brenner surname and returned to using his birth father's name.

In spite of encouraging sales, revenue from the book was not enough to support the Savage family, which now included two boys, Robert and Russell.

In 1953, he published his third book, A Bargain with God, his most popular success, confirmed when republished in a condensed version by Reader's Digest.

[citation needed] While married, Savage had several long-term and close relationships with men,[9] only after he began slowly coming out in the late 1950s.

[12] Manohla Dargis, in her New York Times review of the 2021 film based on Savage's The Power of the Dog, described him as "a closeted gay man".

His son, the writer Robert Brassil Savage, was struck and killed by a vehicle in 2001 while walking on Virginia Beach Boulevard.

Annie Proulx has noted that the story was "unremarkable except for its unusual subject matter", breaking a horse.

Phil works to destroy his sister-in-law, goading her with insults to alcoholism in the hope that George will divorce her.

In the New York Times, Marshall Sprague wrote that Savage had "a magic hand" with characters that have "a classic inevitability", adding, "The prose is austere and economical.

In 2021, a film version was adapted by Jane Campion, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

The film was a critical success, earning several accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Director for Campion.

Savage published I Heard My Sister Speak my Name in 1977 (reprinted in 2001 as The Sheep Queen).

He was inspired by a phone call he received as an adult informing him he had an older sister Patricia [Savage] Hemingway.

[2] When asked to speak of his influences, Savage stated "Mrs. Bridge, by Evan S. Connell, is one of the best novels I ever read.