Back from a nice respite. Time to face 2009 with joy and anticipation. I will post some of my resolutions for the new year later this week. Still working on refining them.

But first - my determination to read more books and watch less TV is paying off.

A great book - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
Allen Hunt Show grade = A

David Wroblewski wrote this story. His sublime story-telling impresses me beyond measure. Unfortunately, when an author debuts with such a masterpiece, it is hard ever to match this kind of excellence. Here's hoping Wroblewski defies the odds.

This story has all kinds of things against it.
1) It is extremely long and dense. Requires a lot of work to read but ends up worth every bit of the effort.
2) The plot focuses on a boy and his dog (really, dogs). Sounds cheesy but turns out powerfully well.
3) Oprah highly recommended it. For an Oprah-phobe like me, that was a real deterrent. However, she was right. A real man can admit that now and then.

The coming-of-age story focuses on a boy who is born mute on a farm in Wisconsin. Follows him from childhood into adolescence and beyond. But it is hardly an ordinary or predictable story.

His family raises and trains dogs. The boy develops a rich interior life. The plot twists and turns with great care. The climax surprises and is hardly of the fairy-tale feel-good variety.

This is a real novel. Best I have read by an author of the 1990-2009 period to date. Well done. Again, A!