Oprah's Book Club Selection Announced
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski Chosen
Oprah Winfrey has announced that her latest Book Club pick is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. The 576 page novel, Wroblewski's first published work of fiction, tells the story of Edgar Sawtelle, a fourteen year old boy who was born mute. He leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in rural Wisconsin, where the Sawtelle family has raised and trained an unusual and fictional breed of dog, the Sawtelles, for many generations.
An Unexpected Visit, an Unexpected Death
But with the unexpected return of Edgar's paternal uncle Claude, turmoil consumes the family's once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude quickly makes a place for himself into the life of the farm -- and in Edgar's mother's affections.
Edgar is overcome with grief over his father’s death and tries to prove that Claude had a hand in it. His plan backfires, and he is forced to escape into the wilderness surrounding the family’s farm. But, ultimately, his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs make Edgar return home.
One of the Greatest American Novels?
"It's everything you want a book to be," Winfrey said in a statement about the book on the same day she made the announcement on her Chicago-based TV show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "I think this book is right up there with the greatest American novels ever written."
About Oprah’s Book Club
Oprah Winfrey began her book club as a segment on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996. Each month, a new book was chosen for the club, including many obscure titles which have quickly reached best seller status due to their selection. The book club's first selection, made in September 1996, was Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel The Deep End of the Ocean. Other recent Oprah’s Book Club picks include such nonfiction works as A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and the novel Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.
About David Wroblewski
David Wroblewski grew up in rural central Wisconsin, not far from the Chequamegon National Forest where The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is set. He received a master's degree from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. He now lives in Colorado with companion and writer Kimberly McClintock, their dog Lola, and their cat Mitsou.
Wroblewski, David
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
New York, Harpercollins/Ecco, June 10, 2008
ISBN-10: 006 137 4229
ISBN-13: 978 006 1374227
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
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