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by: David Wroblewski  List Price: $25.95 Amazon.com's Price: $15.57 You Save: $10.38 (40%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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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 Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display 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:  - Couldn't Put It DownThe book is a great page turner. The writing is exceptional and the characters are so well defined - particularly the dogs. It's not a book that will leave you feeling good at the end - or really anywhere in between. I think that's typical of most classics....and this is....a modern tragedy. Rating:  - A Sawtelle dog for me!!I could not put down this book! The story appealed to me for its uniqueness: the unusual dog breed, its trainers and the training; the different kind of "handicap" for Edgar; the means of communication used by Edgar and his fascination for words while being unable to speak; the Cain and Able relationship of Gar and Claude; and the twist on a coming-of-age story. I found it startling yet sensitive, sad but strangely satisfying, frustrating yet fulfilling, and edgy yet endearing. ... Read More Rating: - Magical storytelling!This retelling of Hamlet is intriguing and compelling...and any dog lover will revel in the dogs! Edgar and his family draw you in and keep you there... Rating: - Review The Story of Edgar SawtelleA debut novel with a haunting impact. Difficult to put down. Beautifully descriptive, tantalizingly frustrating in parts. Not a light fairy floss novel, it will be one of the few novels that I will reread again and I suspect again after that. David Wroblewski will be an author to watch. Highly recommended read. 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. 
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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.