Today Oprah made her 62nd Oprah Book Club Pick with THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE by David Wroblewski. Oprah has selected a book that is already receiving some amazing attention and I think that she picked wisely. She made some very bold statements, even going so far as to say the debut novel was “right up there with the greatest American novels ever written. It’s everything you want a book to be.”
The novel is set on a northern Wisconsin farm in the 1970s and was described as tale of a mute boy named Edgar and the special bond he shares with his dog Almondine, interweaving mystery and family intrigue into a coming-of-age story.
According to Reuters, Oprah’s book club is the biggest in the world with 2 million online members and books chosen for Oprah’s book club invariably skyrocket to the top of U.S. bestseller lists.
The author, who was born in 1959, was raised in rural central Wisconsin, not far from where “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” is set. He now lives in Colorado with his partner, writer Kimberly McClintock.
Wroblewski said he was “proud and excited” that his book had been chosen for Oprah’s Book Club.
“My highest hope is that it does for you the simple work novels were meant for: to create, for days or weeks, that delicious doubled life of the here-and-now folded back upon the there-and-then,” he said in a statement.
“The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” was first published this year by Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins.
SIDENOTE: I noticed that Oprah has changed her Oprah Book Club logo. I will try and grab the image and post it here for everyone to see.
I have my copy of Edgar sitting right next to me and I am eagerly anticipating crawling into bed and beginning my Oprah Book Club challenge. I will post my thoughts about the book and I hope that you all do the same. Here is an excerpt from Edgar Sawtelle straight from Oprah’s website. Let’s get started!
