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Anatomy of a Miracle

by Jonathan Miles

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
16711164,396 (3.62)4
Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:"Funny, bighearted...Miles specializes in giving fully rounded humanity to characters who might elsewhere be treated as stock figures...pitch-perfect."
â?? New York Times Book Review
"Miles is a writer so virtuosic that readers will feel themselves becoming better, more observant people from reading him."
â?? Los Angeles Review of Books
A profound new novel about a paralyzed young man's unexplainable recoveryâ??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 secretsâ??the key to his injury, to his identity, and, in some eyes, to the nature of his recoveryâ??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 l
… (more)
  1. 00
    The Nix by Nathan Hill (achedglin)
    achedglin: Both books are sprawling stories of our contemporary times that have rich characterization, and mix cynicism and wonder with spectacular results.
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» See also 4 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
In the parking lot of a neighborhood convenience store Cameron Harris, a young veteran paralyzed in Afghanistan, suddenly arises from his wheelchair — truly a miracle. Both Cameron and his sister and caretaker Tanya are instant celebrities, and the unassuming convenience store quickly becomes a site of pilgrimage. Religious authorities, the media, medical researchers, and the entertainment business are all vying for Cameron's story, and the lives of everyone involved are upended.

This was both an entertaining and depressing read. Seeing how quickly one can be taken advantage of and how one's life can suddenly be wildly out of one's own control was pretty disturbing — reckless choices on the part of the media and uninformed decisions on the part of Cameron and Tanya. Having said that, this story was a masterful in its purpose as a novel masquerading as a true story. It's narrative nonfiction at its finest (even the acknowledgements refer to people who are not real), except that it isn't, but it will have you questioning whether it just might be. ( )
  ryner | Aug 5, 2023 |
A novel inspired by true events that opens with one unexplainable moment of recovery; which in turn, leads Cameron down the path of unexpected self-discovery.
A true-to-life novel that will leave you wondering: which was the true miracle?
One of the most compelling novels I've read in a long time.
( )
  ShannonRose4 | Sep 15, 2020 |
A novel inspired by true events that opens with one unexplainable moment of recovery; which in turn, leads Cameron down the path of unexpected self-discovery.
A true-to-life novel that will leave you wondering: which was the true miracle?
One of the most compelling novels I've read in a long time.
( )
  ShannonRose4 | Sep 15, 2020 |
Read for my June 2019 book club. Very good, recommended. ( )
  Dianekeenoy | Jun 22, 2019 |
I loved this book. The "reporter writing abut a real event" narrative was so realistic that I bought into the story 100%, frequently forgetting that it was fiction. ( )
  chrisodva | Apr 21, 2019 |
Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
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Epigraph
One who believes all these tales is a fool:
but one who denies them is a heretic.
HASIDIC SAYING
credited to Rav Shlomo of Radomsk
Dedication
this is for
JOHN H. TIDYMAN
who made smoking Camel straights while
cursing at a typewriter look like fun, even if it isn't
(sometimes it is)
and also for
MARK RICHARD
the good Reverend Blotoad
First words
One the afternoon of August 23, 2014, Tanya Harris wheeled her younger brother, Cameron, to the Biz-E-Bee store on the corner of Reconfort Avenue and Division Street in Biloxi, Mississippi.
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Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:"Funny, bighearted...Miles specializes in giving fully rounded humanity to characters who might elsewhere be treated as stock figures...pitch-perfect."
â?? New York Times Book Review
"Miles is a writer so virtuosic that readers will feel themselves becoming better, more observant people from reading him."
â?? Los Angeles Review of Books
A profound new novel about a paralyzed young man's unexplainable recoveryâ??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 secretsâ??the key to his injury, to his identity, and, in some eyes, to the nature of his recoveryâ??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 l

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