| The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 1287 reviews)
Sales Rank: 174
Category: Book
Author: David Wroblewski
Publisher: Ecco
Studio: Ecco
Manufacturer: Ecco
Label: Ecco
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1ST
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 2
ISBN: 0061768065
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061768064
ASIN: 0061768065
Publication Date: September 19, 2008
Release Date: September 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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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."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1282 more reviews...
 It lasted forever for me. Repetitive, dark, and dreary. July 6, 2009
I was very disappointed in this book. Poor character development. Just ugly relationships. Did not agree with me at all.
Long & Tedious July 4, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am not quite finished reading it yet; I keep hoping it will pick up. It is highly detailed-more than is necessary. I am interested in the outcome but I wish it would get to the point quicker. I am reading it for my book club so I have to complete it. Actually it is like watching someone else's home movies.
 A Wonderful Story, a different ending July 3, 2009
Drawing from Hamlet, Wroblewski tells of a family who has raised very special dogs for several generations. Edgar provides a unique technique to the highly trainable dogs. Edgar has never spoken despite having no medically proven reason for the condition. He communicates with his family and the dogs through sign language. What is obvious to Edgar is not always obvious to his mother or the reader. I needed to re-read several passages near the end of the book to make sure I understood what happened. I knew who the antagonist was but I was not prepared for the climax of the book. A page turner for sure. Mr. Wroblewski does not rely on trite phrases. He develops his own illustrations through his words. I loved most of this book. The ending confused me for two reasons. One, I had no idea what was going to happen. Two the writing seemed to repeat - there was one $1 word that got used three times in about as many pages. I would still recommend this book, but the ending has me puzzled about how I feel about the book as a whole.
 Just read Hamlet instead July 3, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
From now on I'm going to read the acknowledgments first before buying--chances are, if the author thanks all his classmates in his MFA program, the book will exhibit all the traits of workshopped-over prose: ambling sentences, attempts at "deep meaning," a contrived borrowing of other literary texts (in this case, Hamlet). That's certainly the case with The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I only finished this book because I hoped that the ending would justify the 600 pages of turgid prose. Wrong! There are better books about dogs, about boys and their dogs, about mute boys, about hatred and revenge...better books emerging from MFA workshops, better books recommended by Oprah, better books...
mixed emotions July 3, 2009
I was eager to read this book; the reviews alone were intriguing. However, I have a tendancy to agree with some of the other comments regarding the mystery surrounding the characters. There was no explanation for Claude's hatred of his brother and I don't recall Edgar hearing the real story of how his parents met. Somewhere in the middle of the book while Edgar was on the run, I found myself running from the book as well in the form of speed reading; I just couldn't get past that section fast enough. The ending left me drained and wondering what happened to Trudy? What about Henry and the two dogs he adopted? Now there would be a story! Maybe these two could come together and rebuild the Sawtelle dog legacy??
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