Don Miller is this guy. He’s a writer, and he writes mostly about real life. You could call it memoir, but that’s not all he writes. His most famous-est book of all was a little one called Blue Like Jazz. It ended up on the New York Times Best Sellers list. It was clever. I laughed. I cried. I read it about seven times. I made my friends read it, too.
Since Blue Like Jazz, I’ve read a couple of Don’s other books (Through Painted Deserts, To Own A Dragon). They’ve been good, but … well, he felt kind of forced. It was good, but it wasn’t epic like Blue Like Jazz. I didn’t feel what the narrative voice felt. I’ve also disagreed with some of Don’s personal decisions and wondered about his theology. The thing is, when he’s on, he’s one of the best Christian writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Or maybe, he’s one of the easiest to connect with of any Christian writer I’ve ever read. What’s more… Don’s books aren’t heavy on theology. Don himself may not be either. But, he has been theologically beneficial to me.
I had the pleasure of listening to him at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College in… ’04 I think. Maybe ’05. I remember him talking about calvinism and saying “Okay, so man is totally depraved… so what? What does that practically mean in your life?” It was the question I needed to hear. I needed someone to remind me, that day, that the “so what” was as important as the “what.”
A few weeks ago, Thomas Nelson was offering review copies of Don’s newest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to read his new book and review it for you guys, so I promptly volunteered too.
A Million Miles feels like Blue Like Jazz, grown up. Don is growing up himself, dealing with different things now than he was seven or eight years ago. Bigger things. He is again personally revealing, profound, and challenging. He admits to struggling with continuing his writing career. A big theme of this book is “living better stories,” and he draws at length off the experience of writing a screenplay from, of all things, Blue Like Jazz.
For you Christian music aficionados, it will be of note that Steven Taylor is one of the men Don writes the screenplay with. Steven Taylor was a Christian rocker in the 80s. He made one of my favorite live albums of all time (Liver) and also ran a record label in the late 90s/early 00s called Squint Entertainment. It was home to Sixpence None the Richer. Reading the version of him that Don puts on paper was particularly fun for me, since I’ve been a fan of his for a long time.
Anyway, back to the book. I’d encourage you to pick up a copy. It’ll make you think in a lot of good ways. I was left thinking about the story I’m living; whether it needs some editing. I also laughed. A lot. My wife would set down her book every once in a while and say, honey… what’s so funny? I’d read her the relevant portion, she’d chuckle and go back to reading.
It also had some tear-jerking moments. Don recounts his own pain unflinchingly. He also communicates the pain of his friends in a remarkably empathetic way. He obviously has a great love for the people who are important to him, not just as characters but as friends.
It’s not the longest book. In an age where attention spans are short, A Million Miles is easy to recommend, because it won’t drag. But, I was left wishing for more and you might be too.
You can find Donald Miller on the internet at www.donmilleris.com and on twitter at @donmilleris. You can buy his new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years at Amazon.com.
And, if you have my copy of Blue Like Jazz… could I get it back? Thanks!
]]>