A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

I highly recommend.

Donald Miller was scheduled to appear at our church on the same day this book was being released and delivered to my Kindle. I had not read any of his books and didn't know anything about him. As it turned out I couldn't make his appearance but I did begin reading his book. It was an very enjoyable book from beginning to end and I was sorry to see it end. His stories about his life and friends lives really drew me in. Many times his humor caught me off guard and I would laugh out loud and then would read that chapter to my wife and daughter. Other parts of the book had me in tears to be honest. His writing on God seemed to me, a fairly conservative Christian, to be biblically sound throughout the book. Basically this book made me think about living my life more fully, making it count for more, or as Donald Miller puts it "living a better story". I'll be reading more of his work soon.

I loved this book, though it took until the 29th chapter to gain my full appreciation. The book starts out slow, explaining the process of writing a story, not only in a book but in life, and showing how depressing and boring life can be without a story or purpose. In chapter 15, Donald Miller talks about a time in his life where he heard the "Voice of the Writer". Pages 87 and 88 are two of my favorites. However, there was one part in Chapter 29 that I liked better. This is the chapter where Miller finally ties together all of his offhanded references to God and it's one of the best ways I've heard life and death described. " When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are. And when you stop expecting material possessions to complete you, you'd be surprised how much pleasure you get out of material possessions. And when you stop expecting God to end all your troubles, you'd be surprised how much you like spending time with God. " Do I still think there will be a day when all wrongs are made right, when our souls find the completion they are looking for? I do. but when all things are made right, it won't be because of some preacher or snake-oil salesman or politician or writer making promises in his book. I think, instead, this will be cone by Jesus. And it will be at a wedding. And there will be a feast." Enough said. Read this book.

If I had known this book was written by a Christian evangelist, even a post-modern hip Christian evangelist I would never have picked it up. I thought it was a memoir, and it really is a memoir /part essay. But it is written so well, the metaphors are so great, that reading it was a cinch. After slogging through a bunch of plodding memoirs, this one was like ice-surfing over a clear, frozen lake. I'm not into books about the purpose-driven life. And in a way this is about the purpose-driven life, only disguised in a really clever way. I don't mean that Miller is marketing Christianity to the young crowd in a hypocritical manner. He seems very honest and his thoughts seem to be his own, not those of an institutional church. But he does come to the conclusion that if the story of your life is to have meaning you have to have a goal that is more than just amassing things or satisfying one's ego. You have to become involved in a cause greater than oneself--even if that is only helping people you know overcome their own difficulties. So much for the sermon--the bulk of the book is told in vignettes about Miller's own life. What I really like about the book is its format. It is structured like a textbook on screenplay writing. In fact the book starts out with the visit of two film-makers, Steve and Ben, who want to make a movie out of Miller's previous book, Blue like Jazz. They try to teach him about story-telling and how they must make scenes and a narrative flow out of a book that is basically essays. There are some very funny scenes where they try to explain how the thought process of reading a book is much different than that of watching a movie. How do you translate written prose into action? Miller goes off and takes a course given by Robert McKee, the screenplay guru. Now I had seen Robert McKee (or the actor playing him) in a film called "Adaptation". I thought the character was an amalgam of all screen-writing teachers, but it turns out it's a real guy who gives intensive symposiums on film writing. Many of the chapter headings are based on McKee's lectures. Here are some of the headings: A character is what he does A character must save the cat An inciting incident A character who wants something must overcome conflict You could get a whole lesson in fiction writing just by reading the chapter headings in this book. I just loved the bit about saving the cat. I once read that in old-time movie writing, particularly westerns, it wasn't enough that the villain shoot an innocent person, or burn down some farmer's house. He had to cross the street and kick the dog. That was called, "kicking the dog." Apparently, the hero in a movie has to save a cat in order for the viewers to like him. It isn't enough that he has to achieve a goal against all odds; the audience has to like the hero. And as a reader you like Donald Miller because his thoughts are so kindred to your own thoughts. And his metaphors are so apt. And his friends are so h

Donald Miller was in a funk. He had written a bestseller, and was now a much sought after speaker. He was accomplished. But for some reason, all of his success didn't bring the climatic ending that he was hoping for. He felt lost. Then he received a call from two men who wanted to turn his book, Blue Like Jazz, into a movie. Miller was unsure of how to turn his book, part memoir and part collection of essays, into a movie. So the two men came to visit him, and teach him about story. From there Miller uses the elements of story to describe how people can paint a different picture of their life. Miller realizes that the majority of his life has been spent watching stories and making them up. He decides that he will turn his life into a story worth watching, rather than spending his time making up fictional stories. Miller once again muses on his life, faith, and the human condition, all the while telling the story of his move from writing stories to living them. When he learns that characters are their actions, he resolves to do things with more meaning. He hikes in the Andes, asks out a girl he likes, and eventually meets his father for the first time ever. The comparisons he makes between stories and real life are phenomenal. I found myself reading through certain sections over and over, trying to grasp the depth of the prose. Some of his thoughts that are complex, taking a while to jog their way through your mind; others are simple and profound in their brevity. For those that have read Miller's previous books, a couple of things will be familiar: his dry sense of humor and superb writing are prevalent throughout the book. What is new is hope. Miller no longer writes like a person wandering through his journey in life honestly searching for answers. He now writes like a person wandering through his journey in life honestly searching for answers, full of hope that one day they will be answered.

"...to know there is a better story for your life and to choose something other is like choosing to die." This is a great book. A book that's fun to read and pulled me in and whose pages flew by. A book that cracked me up and brought tears to my eyes. A book that challenged and inspired. It sounds overly dramatic and just a tad hyperbolic, but I'll look at life (and hopefully live life) a bit differently as a result of this read. In the choppy/direct/engaging writing style of his best-selling "Blue Like Jazz" (but with some additional maturity and depth), Miller describes the experience of looking at his life as he works with others in developing a movie (loosely) based on his life. The result is a bit distressing for him (as his life is a bit boring), but the lessons from the screen-writing experience have some wonderful applications in real life (A Character is What He Does, A Good Character Listens to His Writer, The Importance of an Inciting Incident, and others). Significant life-change takes place. Miller teaches almost incidentally as you watch him learn and grow, and his candor about the pain and awkwardness and joy of the process is endearing and appreciated. And encouraging. There's a lot to chew on in "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years," and I'm not quite with Miller in all of his rifts and conclusions, but I'm grateful that he shared his journey with me. "...in living a great story, we defy a dark force propagating what I believe to be a lie, that a human life is not worth living, that the story you have living within you is not worth living."