Tower Blog

It’s HERE! The New Oprah Book Club Book!

September 23, 2008 by Bob

Worry not my dear friends, Oprah has saved you from complete fall hibernation mode with the announcement of the new Oprah Book Club book: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle written by first time author David Wroblewski.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is, perhaps obviously, the story of a young man named Edgar Sawtelle!  What is unique about this man is that he is mute and lives on a farm with his family in 1970s Wisconsin (clearly Wisconsin was the best place to grow-up in the Seventies: That ’70s Show takes place in WI, and Milwaukee’s Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley were popular in the ’70s).  Getting back to Wroblewski’s tale, although Edgar is mute, he is able to communicate with the dogs that are bred on the family farm.  Life is pretty great until Edgar’s uncle unexpectedly shows up at the farm, and Edgar’s father mysteriously dies.  Edgar, determined to discover the truth about his father’s death, enlists his canine buds to help solve the mystery.

This mystery/coming-of-age tale is reminiscent of Hamlet, but told through a prose style of American literature greats like Hemingway or Fitzgerald.  Wroblewski spent 10 years writing this book, and the care he took to craft each sentence is apparent

Oprah’s book club is the largest on the planet: 2 million readers and growing.  Be sure to check out this 62nd book — it’s well worth the read.