The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wrobleweski



David Wrobleweski grabs the reader's heart and imagination early on in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and doesn't let go. Wrobleweski creates a setting in which the reader feels long grass scratching the characters' legs, smells the barn filled with dogs, and hears the silence of Edgar's inability to speak. The reader gets immersed in Edgar's life, but often feels as disconnected as the characters within the pages of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle are from one another. Wrobleweski weaves a tale family function and dysfunction that draws the reader into the lives of the characters in way that at times feels voyeuristic. While at times the reader feels uncertain about the decisions of the characters and will be hesitant to read on in case something happens to one of the dogs, the need to know will overwhelm that hesitancy. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle develops the story that needs to be told without apologizing for the journey on which it takes the reader even when exposing the darkness and the mysteries that can develop in family dynamics.

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