Oprah's pick: Story of Edgar Sawtelle eBook edition

Oprah has a new book club choice: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.

Interesting pick!

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home.

When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm—and into Edgar's mother's affections.
Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires—spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.

This is not a book I would normally read -- I'm not exactly into books about kids, the cold north mid-west or dogs.  But it came so highly recommended that I actually broke down and read it.  I'm glad I did.

This 500+ page tome is a modern day Hamlet retold.  And some of it is even retold by Almondine (the dog).  This really shouldn't work, but somehow (magically) it does.  Now, I know that handicapped kids and pets can make a toxic mix of sentimentality. But Wroblewski writes with such grace and energy that Edgar Sawtelle never succumbs to that danger.

The great thing about having so many pages to work with is that the author takes his time setting the story.  The first hundred pages are very laid back and tell all about the family and the farm,  And then, just as you are totally engrossed the drama begins.

It is a little slow going in the beginning but worth the effort of hanging in there.  Especially if you have memories of a beloved childhood pet.  Eventually I got so far into Edgar and Almondine's world that coming back to my daily reality was something of a shock! 

For once, I agree that Oprah has picked a winner.

The current price is $19.95 but since it will soon be a best seller that price will be discounted to $17.95.  And yet . . .

I want you to have the experience of a great book.  So eBooks About Everything is offering the book at $14.00.  Use coupon Oprah10 at checkout to claim your discounted price.

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Odds and Ends for March 6, 2008

So many things have gone on in the last week or so that it is difficult to choose a few of the most notable:  William F. Buckley Jr. and Gary Gygax passed on; one more fake memoir, the Oprah-Tolle webinar; the Beautiful Children give away and so much more.

Passed On

William F. Buckley Jr. was an accomplished human being.  A writer, television host, magazine founder and political pundit.  He was embodiment of how to disagree without being disagreeable.  He was a prolific writer and I am sad to say that we only have two of his titles in our store:

I love The Rake and recommend it highly.  This is last book and epitomized his wit, style and use of language.

Gary Gygax was the creator of Dungeons and Dragons.  I am not a gamer but have been surrounded by a lot of them in my life.  You can't work with Techies all your life and not know a few.  He is one of those people I have a special feeling for, probably with not good reason.  No matter what else you can say, this man with a great imagination a sense of fun.

 

The Oprah-Tolle Webinar

Technology -- love it when it works and hate it when it doesn't.  A lot of the Oprah=Tolle webinar attendees woke up Tuesday, hating it.  Seems there was a little bandwidth problem. 

A statement of apology was issued saying that they"recognize that interactive Internet broadcasting to a mass audience is still an emerging medium" and they "deeply regret that some of our audience did not have an optimal viewing experience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Don't worry. . . you can still get a copy of the webinar for viewing on Oprah.com or for downloading as a podcast on Oprah.com or iTunes . 

At first the fact that response was so great it killed the system surprised me.  But the more I thought about it the more I realized that for most people watching or listening to the webinar is a FAR BETTER experience than actually having to read the book! 

Fake Memoirs

Every year we have at least one of them -- a made up memoir.  A  perfectly great piece of fiction passed off as the real deal.  When this happens I start to ruminate on the difference between an autobiography and a memoir. . .

I have a long standing prejudice against autobiographies.  Usually they are an opportunity for the author to rationalize the big events in their life until they come out settling scores and looking good.  Or at least they figure they have offered a rational explanation for shoddy or indefensible behavior. 

So what exactly is the difference between an autobiography and a memoir?  Well, the official definition goes like this:

A memoir covers a shorter period of time or a more specific aspect of life. An autobiography has a wider range of both.

So how short a period of time qualifies?  A childhood, teen years, the years of addiction, a long illness?  Who knows. 

And I also wonder about truth vs emotional truth.  No one remembers things accurately, not really.  We see the past through our own emotional filters that color everything. 

del.icio.us Tags: Truth or Consequences,Margaret B. Jones,William Buckley Jr.,Gygax,Oprah book club,tolle

Is there such a thing as a truthful memoir?

Oprah's Pick: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (We Have the eBook Edition)

Yesterday, Oprah announced her latest book club pick: A New Earth by Echhart Tolle. You will be happy to know that she's gone whole hog this time. This is not a mere book recommendation. Oh no, she has added a webinar. Just think for the next ten week on Monday night you can watch Oprah and Eckhart are co-teach a class about finding your life purpose.

I admit, I have never gotten the whole Eckhart Tolle thing.

A friend of mine thrust The Power of Now on me as a "gotta read" book. I tried to read it. I really, really tried! But after fifty or so pages I gave it up in disgust. Not only is there nothing new in what he has to say, but he is pedantic and even worse, boring. The guy is an awful writer; and yes, I know that English is his second language.

When I finally confessed to my friend that I couldn't make myself read any more she insisted on loaning me the audio version.

The next morning I decide to give it a try. Listening to books is one of my favorite to pass time on the treadmill, so what the hell. I promised myself to listen to at least a half hour and to try to keep an open mind. It was with great resolve, that I got on the treadmill, placed the CD in the player and plugged in my head phones.

After fifteen minutes of listening to some guy tell me what I should do with a really bad Arnold-like accent I wanted to scream. Fifteen minutes later I wanted to pull my hair out and shriek!

At the end of a half hour I was done!! In kindness to those around me, I restrained my self, stifled the shriek and settled on throwing the headphones to the ground.

As luck would have it the real Arnold was on the overhead TV talking about "Cal-ee-for-nee-ah." Sometimes you have to admit, it is just not your day!

These types of books and spiritual teachers set my teeth on edge anyway. The only way I know to learn how to "live a day at a time" is to practice doing it. Reading about how to do it, talking about how you should do it and chasing the latest guru won't do it.

I am not sure that Oprah and Tolle have much to say that applies to most of us. Oprah has found her life purpose: a popular talk show host and philanthropist. Tolle has found his: making money trafficing off people's quest for a better life.

You can bet, come Monday night I will be otherwise occupied!

Technorati Tags: ebooks,e-books,Oprah,Tolle,Oprah book club,book review

Odd bits of publishing news this week

What about Oprah and her Book of the Month Pick? With Love in the Time of Cholera Oprah has picked (IMHO) a rather bad chick lit title. It is supposed to be literature when in fact it is a rather boring tale full of high drama and unrequited love.

OK, I confess -- I couldn’t make myself finish it. My analysis: a big bunch of romantic claptrap! And boring to boot. Really, any one of us could come up with at least a dozen more deserving books.

Author Jennifer Weiner, however, has the best has the best quote on the Oprah's pick:

An author who's won the Nobel Prize? Who's got a movie coming out next month? Who's already been an Oprah pick?. . . Seriously, what's the Girlfriend Of Us All going to choose next? The Bible?"

Speaking of Bibles Here is an interesting press release from the Green Press Initiative. They are announcing that Publisher Thomas Nelson will be shipping out a new Bible next week.

The hook? This is purportedly the first to be published entirely on on paper that has been recycled and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as coming from trees harvested according to environmentally sound practices.

Nice – but it makes me wonder if the Green Press Initiative has ever heard of eBooks.

The Most Creative Book Teaser Ever Author Kelly DiNardo has a new biography in the works: Gilded Lili, the story of striptease artist Lili St. Cyr. She invited her blog readers to create an ad for her. Here is the winning entry: