"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 WaterfallPraise for Anatomy of a Miracle "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 "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 " --Ben Fountain, author of
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk