The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint

Just about any review you read of Brady Udall's The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint will start off the same way as the book; with its opening sentence.

However, it turns out this is justifiably so, so I will risk being a terrible cliche and start off with Udall's opening. I defy anyone to read the first sentence of this novel, and not want to hear more. Ready?

"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."

See, what did I tell you? It's right up there with, "It was the best of times, it was the worst or times," or "Call me Ishmael." Thankfully, the fascination the book brings doesn't end with its first intriguing sentence. While little Edgar Mint sees this as his most defining moment, the truth is that his real story comes afterwards.

The story's hero, Edgar Mint, is half-apache, a little brain damaged, and determined to find and forgive the mailman who accidentally backed over his head all those years ago. His journey is epic in nature, full of twists, turns, and Mormons. His story is fascinating, and the characters are wonderfully flawed. The flow of the book leads you from chapter to chapter effortlessly, and before you know it, you've finished half of the book.

The book revolves around themes of life journeys, faith, and the power of language. The themes of the book are a little overused, but Udall presents them in such a refreshing way that it's forgivable.

There is one device that Udall utilized that I felt only worked about half the time. Edgar, a first person narrator, has a habit of referring to himself in the third person much of time. This can be an effective device, especially when he's talking about his early childhood before the mail truck incident, none of which he personally remembers. It feels as though he's talking about a different person. This is where it's effective, because he essentially was a different person then. As Edgar himself says, as defining moments go, you can't get much more definite than a mail truck running over your head. That kind of thing can change a guy.

So, in those instances, the use of third person is effective. However, Udall overuses it. It would have been more effective to use that device in a limited way, to emphasize it. It can also be disconcerting when the narrator switches from first person to third in the same paragraph (or the same sentence, for that matter).

Udall has been favorably compared to both John Irving and Charles Dickens, for both his characters and epic style. I can see where both of them would be relevent, but truly, Udall's own style is very distinctive.

A film adaptation is being casted at the moment, and should be filmed this year, produced by Michael Stipe, from the band R.E.M. I recommend you read the book first. It's long and involved, and you know how movie adaptations of long, involved stories usually go.

I'm not sure how I feel about the movie. On one hand, if it does well, the book will be pushed to the front tables and maybe people will actually pick it up. Good! However, I always feel a certain amount of trepidation when a really good story gets adapted to film, especially a mini-epic like The Miracle Life. Generally I walk out of the theater cursing. Bad! Michael Stipe, I'm putting you on notice.

I wanted to review this book because no one's ever heard of it, and that should not be the case. It's hard to find on the bookshelves, but it's available cheap on Amazon or other book sites, and it's worth it. So hurry up and get your copy. I'll lend you mine, if that's what it takes, just read it.