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The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint: Summary and book reviews of The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall, plus links to an excerpt from The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint and a biography of Brady Udall.

The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint

The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint
by Brady Udall
Hardcover: Apr 2001,
384 pages.
Paperback: May 2002,
432 pages.

Publication information 		First book/First Novel


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BOOK SUMMARY

If I could tell you only one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head. As formative events go, nothing else comes close.

With these words Edgar Mint, half-Apache and mostly orphaned, makes his unshakable claim on our attention. In the course of Brady Udall's high-spirited, inexhaustibly inventive novel, Edgar survives not just this bizarre accident, but a hellish boarding school for Native American orphans, a well-meaning but wildly dysfunctional Mormon foster-family, and the loss of most of the illusions that are supposed to make life bearable.

What persists is Edgar's innate goodness, his belief in the redeeming power of language, and his determination to find and forgive the man who almost killed him. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint is a miracle of storytelling, bursting with heartache and hilarity and inhabited by characters as outsized as the landscape of the American West.

Media Reviews

  Chicago
Vibrant, big-hearted . . . A poignant, picaresque odyssey.

  Elle Magazine
[An] ingenious tale, which takes its heart from Dickens and its soul from America's great outlaw West.

  Los Angeles Times
Marvelous . . . Edgar Mint is nobody's Everyman, but he is the hope and the pain of a child looking for, and eventually finding, a home.

  The Oregonian
Be prepared to fall head over heels for Edgar Mint . . . a charming and delightful narrator you can't help but cheer on through the end.

  The Wall Street Journal
Profound and stirring . . . brilliantly executed.

  Newsweek
Extraordinary . . . Fall-down funny . . . It's like nothing else you've ever read.

  School Library Journal - Emily Lloyd
Adult/High School-With Dickensian flair and mastery. This novel is a wonderful, wise debut, with a strong story told in language that teens will find easy to embrace.

  Kirkus Reviews
A remarkably assured debut novel that brings to life a unique world, tells its story with skill, and remains enthralling throughout. A bit of a miracle in its own right.

Author Blurb Tony Earley
If Dickens had been born in Arizona, he might have written a book like this.

Author Blurb Junot Diaz
A story that tears at you and calls you back.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Lydia
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint
I love the idea of Edgar living his life in reverse, going from severe almost unendurable hardship to come "home" and be a child, something he deserved in the first fifteen years of his life. A refreshing and poignant ending. I was rooting for...   Read More

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Kim
Entertaining read
As has been mentioned elsewhere, this author's style is similar to John Irving's -- lots of quirky characters, unusual circumstances, by turns very funny & deeply moving (More like the World According to Garp Irving than the Owen...   Read More

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by vincent
reading a novel is not my strong point. however, i was able to finish the entire book within 4 days. many thanks to its creator

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Pamela J. Smith
I heard parts of Miricle Life read on Public Radio while at work in a prison in Iowa. I became obsessed with being in the right place at the right time to hear the daily half hour readings read by Dick Estell, although given the nature of my job...   Read More

Readalikes Full readalike results are for members only

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Tupelo Hassman’s Girlchild is a heart-stopping and original debut.

These are 2 of the 7 readalike suggestions for The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.

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