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Anatomy of a Miracle: A Novel* Hardcover – March 13, 2018

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 911 ratings

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“Funny, bighearted...Miles specializes in giving fully rounded humanity to characters who might elsewhere be treated as stock figures...pitch-perfect.”
— New York Times Book Review

"Miles is a writer so virtuosic that readers will feel themselves becoming better, more observant people from reading him."
— Los Angeles Review of Books

A profound new novel about a paralyzed young man’s unexplainable recovery—a stunning exploration of faith, science, mystery, and the meaning of life

 
Rendered paraplegic after a traumatic event four years ago, Cameron Harris has been living his new existence alongside his sister, Tanya, in their battered Biloxi, Mississippi neighborhood where only half the houses made it through Katrina. One stiflingly hot August afternoon, as Cameron sits waiting for Tanya during their daily run to the Biz-E-Bee convenience store, he suddenly and inexplicably rises up and out of his wheelchair.
 
In the aftermath of this “miracle,” Cameron finds himself a celebrity at the center of a contentious debate about what’s taken place. And when scientists, journalists, and a Vatican investigator start digging, Cameron’s deepest secrets—the key to his injury, to his identity, and, in some eyes, to the nature of his recovery—become increasingly endangered. Was Cameron’s recovery a genuine miracle, or a medical breakthrough? And, finding himself transformed into a symbol, how can he hope to retain his humanity?
 
Brilliantly written as closely observed journalistic reportage and filtered through a wide lens that encompasses the vibrant characters affected by Cameron’s story, Anatomy of a Miracle will be read, championed, and celebrated as a powerful story of our time, and the work of a true literary master.
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
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Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

From the Publisher

literary fiction;dear american airlines;family drama;veteran;bestselling author;new in fiction

literary fiction;dear american airlines;family drama;veteran;bestselling author;new in fiction

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Anatomy of a Miracle

“Funny, bighearted...Miles specializes in giving fully rounded humanity to characters who might elsewhere be treated as stock figures...pitch-perfect.”
— New York Times Book Review

"Jonathan Miles's masterful new novel
Anatomy of a Miracle documents the slo-mo explosion of an attention-grabbing event with trompe l'oeil flourishes...Miles is a writer so virtuosic that readers will feel themselves becoming better, more observant people from reading him... Part of why Anatomy feels so expansive is that Miles takes every opportunity to delve into the characters' backstories... but this keen interest in people is part and parcel of a book in which the author describes humans as 'extraordinary' at least three times. In Miles's world, everyone — not just the people shouting loudest on the internet — is worthy of attention."
— Los Angeles Review of Books

"The impossible happens in... Jonathan Miles's latest novel,
Anatomy of a Miracle. But it's what occurs before the astonishing event and what unspools after that will break open hearts and imaginations... Miles's powerful prose nudges readers to seek the soft spots between faith and judgment, story and science, and fact and fiction."
— CJ Lotz, Garden & Gun

"
Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles is a novel that reads like a true story. It's about a US veteran whose paralysis from the War in Afghanistan is miraculously cured. Cue a media frenzy and you finishing this story in days."
— TheSkimm

“Brilliant, moving, suspenseful, funny, rich, and humane….by far his best work. It’s a robust and powerful story about humanity, hope, loss, and courage. And LOVE. Cannot recommend it highly enough, truly!”
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic, on Instagram

“Heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny.”
— Books Inc, in the San Francisco Chronicle

“[
Anatomy of a Miracle] is a remarkable combination of medical mystery, satire and war story. Like Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, it captures the long-lasting effects of war by focusing on those for whom war is only a tangential thing somewhere far away.”
Shelf Awareness

“Jonathan Miles’ smart exploration of everything from the excesses of American popular culture to the deepest aspects of religious belief roars to life... A vivid portrait of our need to believe and its unintended consequences...
Anatomy of a Miracle is a thoughtful modern morality play that’s as current as the latest internet meme and as timeless as the foundations of faith”
BookPage

"Miles possesses a rare and admirable command of structure and style, shifting smoothly from Afghan patrol tactics to Catholic doctrine to neurological science; his sentences are thick with data, wittily delivered. … An expertly shaped tale about faith in collision with contemporary American culture.” 
— Kirkus (starred review)

"Vibrant, bustling, and humorous... Cleverly shaped as a journalistic report, and told in a style similar to that of John Jeremiah Sullivan and Ron Currie, Miles' tale offers a nuanced and endlessly entertaining exploration of the age-old debate between faith and reason."
— Booklist

“With sincerity and wit, Miles pens a strong, sardonic rumination on the religious boundaries of the miraculous.”
— Library Journal

"Affecting."
Publishers Weekly

“Jonathan Miles has written a novel whose comic moments alone make it a wonderful read, but
Anatomy of a Miracle quickly becomes so much more: an intense, and intensely profound, meditation on how an extraordinary event might test the limits of both scientific and religious belief. What a superb writer; what a superb book.”
—RON RASH,  New York Times bestselling author of Serena and Above the Waterfall


Praise for Dear American Airlines:

“Wildly entertaining…not just philosophically but emotionally rewarding.”
—Richard Russo, New York Times Book Review
 
“This is writing that pulls no punches...There’s a satirist’s edge to [it], an over-the-top sensibility reminiscent of Tibor Fischer and John Kennedy Toole. Satire, to be sure, is part of the point, but Miles is after something bigger—a story of reconciliation, of redemption, of a character trying to become unstuck.
—David Ulin, Los Angeles Times

“A flinty, funny, irreverent, and heartbreaking first novel. The writing reminded me of brilliant, early-days Martin Amis—except with redemption and hope. It’s not easy to write a book this good, but Jonathan Miles makes it seem effortless.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
 
“Miles is a rare original who has pity and sympathy for
almost everybody. Bravo.”
—Barry Hannah, author of Airships
 
“I loved this novel, which is strong medicine indeed.”
—Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall


Praise for Want Not:

“Well, I loved this book. I don’t know if it helps you or anyone to delay that assessment, so I won’t. Jonathan Miles can write, and here he’s written a wonderful book, and there’s no one I would not urge to read it...This is the work of a fluid, confident and profoundly talented writer who gets more fluid, more confident and seemingly more talented even within the book itself. As it progresses,
Want Not so assuredly accumulates power and profundity and momentum that I read the last 200 pages without pause.”
—Dave Eggers, The New York Times Book Review

“Immensely satisfying…while [Mr. Miles] is presumably capable of writing a bad sentence, he doesn’t do so here, despite the big swings he often takes with his prose…gripping and memorable.”
New York Times

“With a light Midas touch, Miles turns all the glut and ache of late America into pure gold...Read this book. It is warm, complex, comic, honest, and never flinching.
Want Not wastes not a word, while its pleasures are endless.”
—Joshua Ferris, author of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
 
“A powerful, blisteringly funny novel...Miles mines the depths of waste so artfully that by the end of this extraordinary novel, we’re left with the suspicion that redemption may well be no more, and no less, than an existential salvage operation.”
—Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

About the Author

JONATHAN MILES is the author of the novels Dear American Airlines and Want Not, both New York Times Notable Books. He is a former columnist for the New York Times, has served as a Contributing Editor to magazines ranging from Details to Field & Stream, and his journalism has been frequently anthologized in Best American Sports Writing and Best American Crime Writing. He is also the author of a book on fish and game cookery, The Wild Chef, and competed in the Dakar Rally, an off-road race through Africa.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hogarth; First Edition (March 13, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553447580
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553447583
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 911 ratings

About the author

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Jonathan Miles
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JONATHAN MILES is the author of the novels Dear American Airlines and Want Not, both New York Times Notable Books. His latest novel, Anatomy of a Miracle: The True* Story of a Paralyzed Veteran, a Mississippi Convenience Store, a Vatican Investigation, and the Spectacular Perils of Grace, is published by Crown/Hogarth.

Dear American Airlines was named a Best Book of 2008 by the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Amazon.com, and others. It was also a finalist for the QPB New Voices Award, the Borders Original Voices Award, and the Great Lakes Book Award, and has been translated into six languages.

Want Not was named a best or favorite book of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews, the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, bookish.com, bookriot.com, and litReactor.com, and was a finalist for the 2014 Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Award in Fiction.

He is a former columnist for the New York Times and has served as a contributing editor to a wide range of national magazines. His journalism has been included numerous times in the annual Best American Sports Writing and Best American Crime writing anthologies.

A former longtime resident of Oxford, Mississippi, he currently lives along the Delaware River in rural New Jersey. For more information, including a calendar of appearances, visit http://www.jonnymiles.com.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
911 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the story well-told and engaging. They describe the book as a worthwhile read that is thought-provoking and heartwarming. Readers appreciate the well-developed characters and humor throughout. The book raises questions about life and brings up interesting debates between science and religion.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

29 customers mention "Story telling"22 positive7 negative

Customers find the book's story telling remarkable and beautiful. They appreciate the engaging writing style, true descriptions, thoughtful phraseology, and full-orbed vocabulary. The writing is exceptional and the topic fascinating.

"The writing in this book was rich and insightful. The characters and the setting were well developed and memorable...." Read more

"The author has a very engaging writing style. Very thoughtful phraseology, full-orbed vocabulary, amazing character development...." Read more

"...His writing style is a delight, as he weaves in Southern expressions...." Read more

"I found this book to be interesting and worth reading, but not light reading...." Read more

22 customers mention "Readability"18 positive4 negative

Customers find the book engaging and worth reading. They describe it as absorbing, with an interesting twist.

"I found this book to be interesting and worth reading, but not light reading...." Read more

"I've just finished this very engaging book, which is a novelized telling of the events in the life of Cameron, a paralyzed veteran of the war in..." Read more

"This was an interesting book that illustrates how even a miracle can get twisted...." Read more

"...This book is both wondrous and heartbreaking, with one resonating moment after another. I can’t wait to read more from this author." Read more

13 customers mention "Thought provoking"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking and interesting. They describe it as heartwarming, memorable, and well-written. The book explores an unexplainable occurrence from the perspective of the person who experienced it. It blends cynicism and idealism, with one resonating moment after another.

"...The characters and the setting were well developed and memorable...." Read more

"I found this book to be interesting and worth reading, but not light reading...." Read more

"...bringing to life this range of characters in a way that is intimate, respectful, and intriguing...." Read more

"...all come together to deliver a story that will leave you thoughtful, surprised, and more than a little heartbroken. Rarely a false note...." Read more

11 customers mention "Character development"11 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters and humor in the book.

"...Very thoughtful phraseology, full-orbed vocabulary, amazing character development...." Read more

"...The unexpected narrative arc, absorbing and well rounded cast of characters, and the author’s lightly applied but heavily considered overarching..." Read more

"Character development was well done. The circumstances of the miracle were well written. As a Christian, I believe in Miracles...." Read more

"...I kept having to remi nd myself that it was a novel. The characters and events felt real and accurate in how today's world works...." Read more

11 customers mention "Insight"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and intriguing. They say it raises questions about how we live our lives, exploring issues of faith, science, love, and human experience in the present day. The characters are well-developed and the humor is abounding. Readers describe the book as one of the most involved, unique, and absorbing reads in a long time.

"...On the surface it’s funny and satirical, but it asks big deep questions and then the story shifts, and the characters (and you as the reader) have..." Read more

"...not a novel to help you escape everyday problems, but it does examine human experience in the present day in ways I found meaningful...." Read more

"...It's much more about the complexity of each life... about the influences which have made each us who we are...." Read more

"Told as if a narrative nonfiction account, this novel explores issues of faith--in religion, in science, in love, in other people--from the..." Read more

5 customers mention "Humor"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the humor in the book. However, some parts are tragic.

"...On the surface it’s funny and satirical, but it asks big deep questions and then the story shifts, and the characters (and you as the reader) have..." Read more

"...All these questions and more are explored with humor, compassion and an eye that somehow combines cynicism and idealism...." Read more

"...It's all there for the reader to digest some of it is humorous and some is tragic. A great book to discuss among friends." Read more

"...It is uplifing, sad, funny and just an all around beautiful story." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2024
    The writing in this book was rich and insightful. The characters and the setting were well developed and memorable. On the surface it’s funny and satirical, but it asks big deep questions and then the story shifts, and the characters (and you as the reader) have to re-examine your original answers. It was an interesting commentary on the conditions people put on their politics and faith. It ended about as well as it could have. I haven’t really read anything quite like this before. I am impressed with how well the author ‘got’ Mississippi and the coast not having grown up there.

    I will leave you with this description of Biloxi:

    “… for all its synthetic, tropical print ease, and its tolerance of frailties, Biloxi has never comported itself, like a resort town. It bears no illusions of itself as a paradise. It does not mind the smell of fish guts. Its hands are cracked and calloused and it sweats a lot.”

    And Quýnh’s final assessment of the situation:

    “A bottle of entertainment, Quýnh knew, will always outsell a bottle of history – and knowing this, he’d thought had given him an advantage. What he hadn’t known, however, was how volatile and perishable the contents of both bottles could be.”
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2019
    I found this book to be interesting and worth reading, but not light reading. It is not a novel to help you escape everyday problems, but it does examine human experience in the present day in ways I found meaningful. We see how much of modern life in America borders on being absurd, but you are still left with the feeling that, when we persevere, there is hope. The book tackles questions about how people deal with the good and bad things that happen to them, and the effect on their belief systems, but I personally was not troubled by questions raised about how much God does or doesn't intervene in our lives. I have a strong faith that God does love us, and while we may not understand why misfortune happens to some more than others, ultimately we will find that all will be well, in this life and/or the next, when we rely on God's love.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2018
    The author has a very engaging writing style. Very thoughtful phraseology, full-orbed vocabulary, amazing character development. This was supposed to be about the quest to get to the bottom of whether or not an event was indeed miraculous as the masses seemed to have embraced it to be. Miracles in the sense of being God-wrought events is explored almost exclusively by looking into the Catholic church's handling of such things. That exposes some of the errors of the Catholic view on such things, but most certainly does not expose a biblical stance, a point which was, in the end, profoundly disappointing. It might have been helpful for the author to understand that Catholics do not speak for the whole of Christianity. Ultimately, the author waxes philosophical about right and wrong, sorting that out in a very humanistic stance; again, disappointing. So much left unexplored (biblical Christianity, for instance) and the characters left floating through life with no answers beyond what they can conjure in the moment based on, well, basically nothing. I was sad for every one of them for truly, to go through life with no ultimate truth, no real way to discern right or wrong beyond how one feels about something... Only sadness and feeling about in the dark, chasing whatever thought feels right on any given day. What a depressing world that would be.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2018
    I've just finished this very engaging book, which is a novelized telling of the events in the life of Cameron, a paralyzed veteran of the war in Afghanistan, his sudden release from paralysis, and the wild consequences of that event for the lives of so many around him. Jonathan Miles does an amazing job of bringing to life this range of characters in a way that is intimate, respectful, and intriguing. His writing style is a delight, as he weaves in Southern expressions. All the important players in this story feel authentic... quite an accomplishment!

    The 'Miracle' is explored from every angle. For most of those involved, it seems to disturb their basic sense of reality. Perhaps the religious among them have the easiest time of it. It's 'obviously' the work of God. But that raises many questions about who is really deserving of a miracle? For a variety of reasons, many doubt that Cameron is worthy of such a blessing. The reader comes to have sympathy for Cameron and his sister, Tanya, who have suffered many losses in their young lives. And the tale of Cameron's time in Afghanistan is an important reminder of what our soldiers go through in time of war.

    If you come to this book expecting a sweet "lives of the saints" story, you may be disappointed. It's much more about the complexity of each life... about the influences which have made each us who we are. And it delves into how we attempt to cope with the unexplainable, the unknowable... how we seek consolation in our own ways.

    As someone who lost a loved one to suicide, I appreciated this book's respect for the complexity of each person's life. And I'm aware of how I have sought the consolation of understanding. Somehow, if there's a reason, or a multitude of reasons, the reality is easier to bear. For Cameron, at the end, we see a glimmer of hope for a fuller life.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2018
    This was an interesting book that illustrates how even a miracle can get twisted. A paralyzed vet is sitting outside a convenience store waiting for his sister when he suddenly feels kind of ill and just has to ... stand up and walk. Medicine can't explain it (yet) and media wants to exploit it. The church wants to investigate it. It not only affects the vet, it changes his caretaker sister's life as well. The vet goes through a lot and, eventually, is open to owning his past and opening himself to the future and, perhaps, to love? What really impressed me about this book was that by the end, I wasn't sure if it was fiction or fact. I bought it as fiction. But there at the end, it feels real.
    4 people found this helpful
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