‘The Tale of Edgar Sawtelle’ proving to be the U.S. surprise literary hit of the summer

June 27, 2008, London: Amazon.co.uk and HarperCollins today unveiled David Wroblewski as their next ‘Author in the Spotlight’ as his first book ‘The tale of Edgar Sawtelle’ shapes up to be one of the surprise literary hits of the summer in the United States.

Featured at the front of Amazon’s book store, ‘Authors in the Spotlight’ looks to promote great new titles that Amazon.co.uk and HarperCollins love but Amazon customers might not have heard of. It features a different author each week with a wide range of exclusive content, including author interviews, video clips, and book excerpts. David Wroblewski’s ‘Spotlight’ features the first chapter of the book together with an exclusive interview with Wroblewski.

A story of a mute boy growing up on a farm in Northern Wisconsin with his beloved dogs and said to have a similar story to Hamlet, ‘The Tale of Edgar Sawtelle’ has been a surprise hit in America. According to the Wall Street Journal, the book had only been out one week in the US and was already into its’ seventh print run with sales of 90 000 copies.

“‘The Tale of Edgar Sawtelle’ is the exactly the kind of title we had in mind when we created ‘Spotlight’,” said Christopher North, Amazon.co.uk’s vice-president of media. “Such an extraordinary first novel deserves to be brought to the widest possible audience,” he added.

“David’s book really seems to have captured the imagination in America and it’s wonderful that HarperCollins and Amazon can bring it to the attention of a British audience,” said John Bond, Managing Director of Press Books

The first author in the ‘Spotlight’ was Joseph O’Neill, whose book ‘Netherland’ has recently been published to widespread critical acclaim. O’Neill’s previous works, such as ‘Blood Dark Track’, a re-imagining of the history of his grandfathers’, have also been received favourably.

For further information please contact the Amazon.co.uk press office on 020 8636 9280.

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