Join us at Northshire for a conversation with New York Times book critic Dwight Garner and acclaimed novelist Jonathan Miles about his novel Anatomy of a Miracle--a stunning exploration of faith, science, celebrity, and mystery about a paralyzed veteran’s sudden, mysterious recovery.
Jonathan Miles’s unforgettable third novel, Anatomy of a Miracle—beloved and championed by indie booksellers, critics, passionate librarians, and readers alike—is now available in paperback. Brilliantly written, funny, heartrending, and powerfully hopeful, Anatomy of a Miracle grapples with faith, sexuality, the search for truth, and the struggle to find an individual identity up against the stories and expectations thrust upon us. Through the story of Cameron Harris, Miles does nothing less than make the supernatural tangible, as one man struggles with the possibility—and the consequences—of a miracle in his own 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 Hurricane 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.
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 and 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 The Wild Chef, a book on fish and game cookery, and competed in the Dakar Rally, an off-road race through Africa.
Dwight Garner is a daily book critic for the New York Times. He worked as senior editor at the New York Times Book Review from 1999 to 2008, and before that was books editor of Salon. His writing has appeared in Harper’s, The Nation, Slate, Vanity Fair, and other publications. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
