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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 Sales Rank: 19 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Amazon.com: 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:  - Life is to short!The book was written well and kept me reading it, but in the end I was left wanting a different story altogether. Life is to short to read such a depressing book. Rating:  - Story telling at its best.Excellent story telling technique makes material that is not at first glance the best for a suspenseful page-turner into just that. Vivid descriptions advance, do not distract from, the story. Rating:  - Sometimes interesting, occasionally dragsThat David Wroblewski can write is plain to any reader of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, in places his prose literally sing off the page. Likewise, he has done an excellent job of researching his material, particularly as it relates to dogs and breeding, a topic clearly close to his heart. His decision to make Edgar mute also shows a great deal of creativity and serves to deepen the work considerably. However, the book suffers from several short comings, some of which are ... Read More Rating: - What is all the excitement about?I am very conflicted about this work. Obviously, he can write beautifully, and evocatively, of the countryside. This book has a very strong sense of place. Also, his description of the relationship of Edgar and the dogs is moving, and really altered the way I relate to my own dog. However, I had many problems with this book, namely: 1. It is way too long, in the wrong ways. The very long section wherein Edgar runs away from home seemed almost totally unnecessary and did not move the story forward ... Read More Rating: - What a selfish writer!I think that the author is an outstanding writer however, I also think he is mean spirited. The author has us read and fall in love with the characters in this story and then to change the story from one of heartfelt truth about how families and people think and grieve to one in which he shows his true colors as a mean spirited hateful ending. Just shows that just because a person is talented doesn't mean they are kind. Don't bother to read this book. The author sells it as a American story and then ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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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.