Oprah winfrey mini biography of edgar
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by Jill Kronstadt
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David Wroblewski traces the genesis of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle to an afternoon in 1993, when, as he describes it in an interview with Peter Scowen of the Globe and Mail, three ideas suddenly came together: writing a novel in five acts, like a play; setting it in rural Wisconsin, where he grew up; and exploring the complicated relationship between humans and dogs. At the time he was in his mid-30s and working as a software engineer. The resulting novel, published in 2008 when Wroblewski was 49, can be described as a contemporary retelling of Hamlet—intentional on Wroblewski’s part—with a mute boy in the title role, a visionär breeding operation standing in for Denmark, and an assemblage of canny dogs serving both as supporting characters and subjects for philosophical musings about the nature of free will.
Wroblewski’s formula succeeds both literarily and commercially because it paradoxically combines its most audacious ingredients (
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Background
Cultural Context: The Oprah Winfrey Book Club
Despite generating favorable initial reviews, it is unlikely that David Wroblewski’s first novel would ever have become a cultural phenomenon if not for its inclusion in Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. With its commitment to promoting works of serious literary intent, its massive social media presence, and the celebrity clout of Oprah WInfrey herself, Oprah’s Book Club became a defining cultural context for novels that might otherwise have never found their way to a wide readership.
Initial sales of the novel were slow—the author was unknown, and the book, at nearly 600 pages, was intimidating. After Oprah Winfrey selected the novel as one of her book club reads, several leading forums, most notably The New York Times and USA Today, listed the book among its best books of the year. The novel was also shortlisted for the prestigious Art Seidenbaum Award, presented annually by the critics of the Los Angeles Times to
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The Complete List of All 111 Books in Oprah’s Book Club
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Dream State, by Eric Puchner
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Charlie and Cece are madly and days away from their dream wedding on the shore of Montana’s Salish Lake when Charlie’s old friend Garrett arrives, testing the couple’s bond and changing the course of their lives forever. Following the three characters through fifty years of romance, heartbreak, friendship, and forgiveness, this novel is an ode to love in all its forms. “I promise you it’s the kind of book you won't want to put down,” Oprah says.
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