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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.
"It's impossible to judge the book as something more than an enjoyable performance without discussing that revelation, but also impossible to discuss the revelation without spoiling some of that enjoyment. This isn't an uncommon reviewer's dilemma, but in this case it's indicative of what makes Miles's work, for all of its pleasures, so frustrating. ... Perhaps Miles's strengths as a writer, his comic vision and his largeheartedness, make him unable to resist engineering a happy ending .... and a neatly satisfying one for the rest of us. That's his right, and plenty of readers will appreciate the impulse, but this one was disappointed to see such a copiously talented writer pulling his punch." - New York Times
"Part of why Anatomy feels so expansive is that Miles takes every opportunity to delve into the characters' backstories, each one practically a mini magazine profile that touches on the person's worldviews, formative experiences, and unresolved questions. 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 the loudest on the internet — is worthy of attention." - LA Review of Books
"Cleverly shaped as a journalistic report and told in a style similar to that of Ron Currie and John Jeremiah Sullivan, Miles' tale offers a nuanced and endlessly entertaining exploration of the age-old debate between faith and reason." - Booklist
"Well-drawn characters and their witty repartee help to give the book's wild and wacky events a very human frame of reference." - Publishers Weekly
"With sincerity and wit, Miles pens a strong, sardonic rumination on the religious boundaries of the miraculous." - Library Journal
This information about Anatomy of a Miracle was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Erica Larsen
Jonathan Miles is the author of the novels Dear American Airlines and Want Not, both New York Times Notable books, and the novel Anatomy of a Miracle. His journalism, essays, and criticism have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including The New York Times, where he served as a columnist. In 2024 he toured as a multi-instrumentalist in the band of the Grammy-winning artist Jon Batiste. He currently serves as Writer-in-Residence at the Solebury School in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
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