The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Genre: Fiction

Ratings:
Ease with which to read/enjoyable author style 2.5
Suitable ending 1.75
Personal favoritism 1.75
Poetic language 2.0
Memorable 2.0
Original, creative plot 3.5
Original, well-developed characters 2.75
Probability of recommendation 1.5
Ability to "move" emotionally 2.0
Literary value and/or educational value 1.5
Total: 21.25

Final Rating: 2 stars

4-sentence summary:
Edgar Sawtelle's family raises a fictional breed of dogs, known as the "Sawtelle Dogs", whose companionship and clear-focus is idealized by Almondine, Edgar's best friend. Edgar, having been born mute, relies heavily on his parents and the dogs for his daily life. But when Edgar's father is murdered, Edgar is forced to flee into the wilderness with some of the dogs and fend for himself.

Critique:
This book had so much promise, and was highly recommended not just by Oprah but by Target and reviewers. I generally enjoy books with such high reviews; but this time, I did not.

The first 150 pages could be eliminated. Dry, overly-flourished prose about the idyllic family make the plot unbearable and stagnant. It is only when Edgar is forced into the wild that the author truly comes into a beautiful writing style: a sort of new "Hatchet". But it has such self-importance that it is difficult to take seriously. A sample: "All around, fireflies glowed their radium bellies" (page 331). The prose is too fancy for the plot, which is stagnant and unoriginal. Instead of feeling inspired, it feels heavy and misplaced.

The villain of the book, Claude, has no real motivation for his villainous actions. Occasionally, the author uses a chapter to tell another character's point of view other than Edgar's: his mother's, his dog's, and Claude's. But these chapters do not provide any additional insights into the characters or the plot at all and serve as filler for this lengthy book. The book is 560 pages long; the story could be told in 200.

Finally, the ultimate point of the book: "Why are the Sawtelle dogs so important" is lost on the reader, as Edgar never reveals the secret. The story ends from the perspective of Essay, a Sawtelle dog who has run away. ... What?! This incoherent plot, bizarre obsession with training dogs, and incredibly useless length of the flowery prose is a sure sign that this book is going up for sale at my next yard sale.