The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Oprah's Book Club)

by David Wroblewski

A contemporary retelling of Hamlet of stark and striking brilliance set on a farm in remote northern Wisconsin. On a farm in remote northern Wisconsin the mute and brilliant Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents Gar and Trudy. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomised by Almodine, Edgar's lifelong companion. But when his beloved father mysteriously dies, Edgar blames himself, if only because his muteness left him unable to summon help. Grief-stricken and bewildered by his mother's desperate affair with her dead husband's brother, Edgar's world unravels one spring night when, in the falling rain, he sees his father's ghost. After a botched attempt to prove that his uncle orchestrated Gar's death, Edgar flees into the Chequamegon wilderness leading three yearling dogs. Yet his need to face his father's murderer, and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs, turn Edgar ever homeward. When he returns, nothing is as he expects, and Edgar must choose between revenge or preserving his family legacy!

• ISBN10: 0061768065
• ISBN13: 9780061768064
• Publish Date: 19 September 2008 (first published 1 June 2008)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 576
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

This had the strange sensation of a short story trying to fill a 580-page book, and a 580-page book that could have gone to 1000 and still lacked the sharp teeth and nuance of a novel half its size. Not that that’s a terrible thing— just over and over it felt like so much more could have been accomplished with so much less. It was an easy read, though; finished in two days flat.

If it had been The (Short) Story of Edgar Sawtelle and Henry Lamb, for example, I would have been all over it.

[Eve1972]

I kind of put off reading this book for awhile, I am not a dog person and really am not fond of books or movies that feature animals, but I kept hearing how great this one was, so I relented and picked it up! What can I say, I LOVED it, so much in fact I finished it in two days! The writing is just gorgeous, the characters beautifully written, just a really, really great read!