A Book Worth Reading

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a wonderfully powerful book. It's the story of Hamlet, sort of, but it's much more than that.

The writing is so beautiful, slow and lyrical. The characters are so clearly drawn. The story is intricate and woven together with such seeming ease and beauty that it is almost as easy as the images of nature it uses.

The hero of the story, Edgar Sawtelle, is mute and his story concerns a family bent on creating a breed of dog that is unlike any other previously bred and the shortsightedness this creates among the family members. It is metaphysical, physical, psychological, spiritual and familiar. Normally, I look a little askance at Oprah's selections for some reason, but this one was read by my book club so I dug in.

The book took the author, David Wroblewski, ten years to write and it shows the care he employed in getting the job done. If you like to read, this one's for you.