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Familiaris (Oprah's Book Club)

ebook
40 of 40 copies available
40 of 40 copies available

Oprah's Book Club Pick for Summer 2024

"An extraordinary journey that brilliantly interweaves history, philosophy, adventure, and mysticism to explore the meaning of love, friendship, and living your life's true purpose."—Oprah Winfrey

The follow-up to the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling modern classic The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Familiaris is the stirring origin story of the Sawtelle family and the remarkable dogs that carry the Sawtelle name.

It is spring 1919, and John Sawtelle's imagination has gotten him into trouble ... again. Now John and his newlywed wife, Mary, along with their two best friends and their three dogs, are setting off for Wisconsin's northwoods, where they hope to make a fresh start—and, with a little luck, discover what it takes to live a life of meaning, purpose, and adventure. But the place they are headed for is far stranger and more perilous than they realize, and it will take all their ingenuity, along with a few new friends—human, animal, and otherworldly—to realize their dreams.

By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, mysterious and enchanting, Familiaris takes readers on an unforgettable journey from the halls of a small-town automobile factory, through an epic midwestern firestorm and an ambitious WWII dog-training program, and far back into mankind's ancient past, examining the dynamics of love and friendship, the vexing nature of families, the universal desire to create something lasting and beautiful, and of course, the species-long partnership between Homo sapiens and Canis familiaris.

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    • Kirkus

      March 1, 2024
      A great American novel of people and passions and ideas--and, of course, dogs. For the many fans of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (2008), this ambitious and captivating prequel focuses on that character's grandfather, John Sawtelle. Its nearly 1,200 pages begin in 1919 when John, who has been working as a road-tester at a car factory, finds a perfect piece of land when his jalopy breaks down in middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin, where he surprises his dog, Gus, by walking 63 yards on his hands. John won't take possession of this inspiring tract for another 300-some pages, necessary to introduce the key characters and elements Wroblewski has invented to populate his cabinet of wonders. Characters include a giant carpenter named Elbow; a World War I amputee named Frank Eckling; John's brilliant and sensitive soulmate, Mary; a logger named So Jack Von Osten and his huge horse, Granddaddy, who can both count and give romantic counseling. Elements: none more important than a fictional 1897 volume called Practical Agriculture and Free Will by George Solomon Drencher, the source of John's conviction that life's purpose is to "Seek, seek, seek--the Singularism!" John's singularism is of course encapsulated in the breed of dog he and Mary will eventually develop, the Sawtelle dog; you'll wait another few hundred pages for that to emerge, but the delights along the way are manifold. Like this comparison of whiskey and brandy: "Whiskey tasted like some-thing squeezed out of an oak plank, like mentholated gasoline. Brandy was composed of equal parts sunlight and lava. Where whiskey came home looking for an argument, brandy noticed how truly simpatico you were." One of the darker parts of the book focuses on a terrible incident involving John and Mary's sons, setting the stage for events readers of Edgar will recall with a chill. A hilarious and moving section toward the end--by now it's the late 1950s--follows John's attempts to write a book called Familiaris, in which the author may or may not reveal secrets of his craft. Already having drawn comparisons to Russo, Irving, Strout, McCarthy, and Gilbert, with Garc�a M�rquez added here, Wroblewski earns them all, amply rewarding readers who have been waiting impatiently for 15 years. For all the eons it may take to read it, this colossus of a book will own you.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 29, 2024
      Wroblewski delivers a gratifying if overstuffed prequel to his 2008 bestseller, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. In May 1919, 22-year-old Wisconsin automotive worker John Sawtelle witnesses his boss’s murder and heads north with his wife, Mary, and their friends Ulysses Elbow and Frank Eckling out of fear he’ll be falsely implicated in the crime. After the four settle on a dilapidated farm, John works as a dog breeder, raises two sons, Edgar and Claude, and encounters some unsettling surprises in the woods surrounding the property. One plot thread features a neighbor with supernatural abilities—she ages at half the normal human rate and can see into a person’s future. Another involves a violent and tragic episode, which results in the Sawtelles and their friends going their separate ways. The author tends to lose his way in lengthy sections of backstory and drawn-out conversation pieces as the plot slowly approaches the events of the first novel. Still, there are beautiful passages on the bonds between humans and animals and plenty of folksy charm. Fans of the first book will be satisfied. Agent: Eleanor Jackson, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 28, 2024

      With this new novel, the origin story behind his bestselling The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Wroblewski transports readers to the wilds of Wisconsin's Northwoods in 1919, where John Sawtelle is in search of something grand. This impressive novel (in both content and heft) brings readers deep into John's mind and heart as he strives to put together the life and family he envisions. He and his new bride Mary, along with best friends and beloved dogs, set out to create a purposeful life on a plot of land. Each person brings talents to bear on their joint project, as do the amazing Sawtelle dogs John and Mary rescue, breed, raise, and train. Seeking depth of understanding of dogs, humans, and the natural world around them brings John and Mary into contact with all manner of events, natural and otherwise. VERDICT Wroblewski's talent dances on the page in a searingly gorgeous novel written with piercing, insightful language. Readers of David James Duncan, John Irving, and George Saunders will fall in love. Seriously recommended for all readers whose hearts were first broken by Wilson Rawls's Where the Red Fern Grows. Don't be daunted by the length; by the end of this book, readers will wish for even more.--Julie Kane

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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