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Books : The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62) |
List Price: $25.95Amazon.com's Price: $14.27 You Save: $11.68 (45%)Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061768064
ISBN: 0061768065
Label: Ecco
Manufacturer: Ecco
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 576
Publication Date: September 19, 2008
Publisher: Ecco
Release Date: September 19, 2008
Studio: Ecco
Sales Rank: 25
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm—and into Edgar's mother's affections.
Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires—spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.
David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes—the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain—create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.
Amazon.com Review:
Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: It's gutsy for a debut novelist to offer a modern take on Hamlet set in rural Wisconsin--particularly one in which the young hero, born mute, communicates with people, dogs, and the occasional ghost through his own mix of sign and body language. But David Wroblewski's extraordinary way with language in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle immerses readers in a living, breathing world that is both fantastic and utterly believable. In selecting for temperament and a special intelligence, Edgar's grandfather started a line of unusual dogs--the Sawtelles--and his sons carried on his work. But among human families, undesirable traits aren't so easily predicted, and clashes can erupt with tragic force. Edgar's tale takes you to the extremes of what humans must endure, and when you're finally released, you will come back to yourself feeling wiser, and flush with gratitude. And you will have remembered what magnificent alchemy a finely wrought novel can work. --Mari Malcolm
Book Description
Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm--and into Edgar's mother's affections.
Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires--spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.
David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes--the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain--create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.
Double Life, with Dogs: An Amazon Exclusive Essay by David Wroblewski
 We write the stories we wish we could read. There's no other reason to do it, to spend years pacing around your basement, mumbling, pecking at a keyboard, turning your back on a world that offers such a feast of delicious fruits. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle came about because some time ago I wished I could read a novel about a boy and his dog, one that integrated our contemporary knowledge of canine behavior, cognition, and origins with my experience of living with dogs; if possible, something flavored with the uncynical Midwestern sense of heart and purpose so familiar from my childhood (and something which, in truth, I've spent much my adult life being slightly ashamed of, as if either heart or purpose were embarrassing attributes for a grown-up to display). I'd recently come to know a good dog, maybe the best dog I'd ever met, and the subject of people and dogs and ethics and character suddenly seemed urgent. But when I went looking for such a story, I had to go back almost a hundred years, back to Jack London's Call of the Wild. That was a surprise. A little while after that, an idea for a story came to me--not the whole thing, but enough to start.
Continue Reading Double Life, With Dogs Praise from Stephen King
"I flat-out loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and spent twelve happy evenings immersed in the world David Wroblewski has created. As I neared the end, I kept finding excuses to put the book aside for a little, not because I didn't like it, but because I liked it too much; I didn't want it to end. Dog-lovers in particular will find themselves riveted by this story, because the canine world has never been explored with such imagination and emotional resonance. Yet in the end, this isn't a novel about dogs or heartland America--although it is a deeply American work of literature. It's a novel about the human heart, and the mysteries that live there, understood but impossible to articulate. Yet in the person of Edgar Sawtelle, a mute boy who takes three of his dogs on a brave and dangerous odyssey, Wroblewski does articulate them, and splendidly. I closed the book with that regret readers feel only after experiencing the best stories: It's over, you think, and I won't read another one this good for a long, long time.
In truth, there's never been a book quite like The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I thought of Hamlet when I was reading it, and Watership Down, and The Night of the Hunter, and The Life of Pi--but halfway through, I put all comparisons aside and let it just be itself.
I'm pretty sure this book is going to be a bestseller, but unlike some, it deserves to be. It's also going to be the subject of a great many reading groups, and when the members take up Edgar, I think they will be apt to stick to the book and forget the neighborhood gossip.
Wonderful, mysterious, long and satisfying: readers who pick up this novel are going to enter a richer world. I envy them the trip. I don't re-read many books, because life is too short. I will be re-reading this one."
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
This book is tedious, self-indulgent, and over-hyped. It is a rip-off of Hamlet, books by Martha Grimes (human-like animals), and even Hard Times by Dickens (the loyal circus dog). After suffering through this book, there is no ending. The exhausted reader is left up to guessing what happens to the dogs. One can only assume they go to Henry Lamb's farm. I cannot recommend this book.
Rating:  -
I loved the players and the twisted, exciting story build up, but.....did the author suddenly leave town before writing the last chapter? This was not an ending, only a terrible, deflating, defeating let down. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62)
Rating:  -
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is one of those rare books that comes along on occasion. I was reluctant to read it because of its length and because it is an Oprah pick. I don't usually read a book just because Oprah recommends it. However, I read several reviews of the book and the more I read about it, the more I wanted to read it. I actually started reading it from the library but then, I decided I wanted a copy for myself. The language the author uses is so rich and he makes the reader ... Read More
Rating: -
My order was placed in November, 2008. By the end of December I still had not gotten my order. I contacted the seller, no response. I contacted Amazon and received a reply, only to find out for some reason my order was never delivered to my house or mailbox and because it had no return address on it, it is now at a Mail Return Center. I have now had to write a letter, because they do not take calls, to MRC to try and get my order. This has been a big hassle. I cant believe the seller did not ... Read More
Rating:  -
Beautifully written. Poignant and bittersweet. So many possibilities for happiness, but the ill winds of dysfunctional fortune blow through every chapter. Being drawn deeply into Edgar's plight, I wanted him to find joy and happiness, I almost needed it--so magnetic is the author's storytelling that it has that influence in the reader's mind. Feeling more and more that life would not treat Edgar as I wished, I could not stop reading his tale. The ending caught me by surprise...
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