Familiaris: Oprah's Book Club
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3.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK FOR SUMMER 2024 | A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF 2024 | AN INDIGO BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2024
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 north woods, 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Wow. This is a lot, and we mean that in the best possible way. Familiaris is a prequel to author David Wroblewski’s 2008 bestseller, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, yet it’s bigger, wiser, and stranger. After World War I, ambitious and philosophical John Sawtelle finds a remote Wisconsin farm and decides it’s where his life’s work will take place. Over nearly half a century, John and his wife, Mary, accumulate a found family of friends, farmworkers, and townspeople, and they eventually raise and train an exceptionally intuitive, empathetic breed of dog. These storylines illuminate elements of Wroblewski’s previous novel while remaining absolutely fascinating on their own. Like a mad, wonderful blend of Charles Dickens, John Steinbeck, and Gabriel García Márquez, Familiaris feels like an instant classic and like nothing you’ve read before.
