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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 813.6 EAN: 9780061374227 ISBN: 0061374229 Label: Ecco Manufacturer: Ecco Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 576 Publication Date: June 01, 2008 Publisher: Ecco Release Date: June 10, 2008 Studio: Ecco Editorial Review: 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 Praise from Stephen King Average Rating:
 Rating:  - The Story of Edgar SawtelleI never received the book. I haven't heard from Amazon nor the book company. I will not order from Amazon again until I hear from you. I am really disappointed and can't even get a return email.I no longer want the book. I went to a bookstore and bought it. I only want my money back! Rating: - STEPHEN KING WANNA BE.I HATED THE BOOK. MY FIRST INCLINATION, AFTER READING IT, WAS TO THROW IT IN THE TRASH. I'M SORRY I SPENT THE MONEY TO BUY IT. THE AUTHOR COULDN'T DECIDE WHAT HE WANTED TO WRITE ABOUT, HE HAD TO PUT SOME "STEPHEN KING" SCENES ETC. INTO IT. THE ENDING WAS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE, IT WAS DISGUSTING, TO SAY THE LEAST. I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT, I CAN ONLY HOPE IT TAKES HIM TWENTY (OR MORE) YEARS TO WRITE HIS NEXT BOOK. Rating:  - the new American novel for the centuryWrobleski's novel is what the American literary scene needs. Superb in its eloquence, its crucial interaction with setting and characterization that includes a bond between man and animal, it strikes the heart of beauty between language and density of plot in one gripping read. Rating:  - Wonderful writing, tragic endingDo not get this book if you like happy endings. Poor Edgar, his father, his dog, his life. I did enjoy the writing and I enjoyed Henry. Rating: - Why the ending?Why do authors so often disappoint by ending a book so badly. People like it when their questions are answered and there is some sort of closure or justice. I thought the first half of the book was very slow. The second half got better, and I became enthused. Then, at the end, the the whole story just fell through my vessel of high expectations and landed in my pot of whybotherism. I am still rating it with 3 stars because I liked most of it. |
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.