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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Debut novelist Brady Udall's The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint is a moving tragic-comedy that has been compared to the works of John Irving. The tender humour of this novel, coupled with subtly explored issues, makes this an outstanding read. Udall's prose style is engaging and refreshing, and the voice of the narrator is utterly convincing. When eight-year-old Edgar Mint gets his head squashed by a post van on the Apache reservation where he lives with his alcoholic mother, it is the beginning of a new life. Resurrected from near death by a junior doctor, Edgar find himself in a new environment, sharing a ward with three men in various states of serious injury, the focus of the hospital's attention and with no recollection of his previous life. So begins Edgar's journey.
This is essentially a rites of passage novel. But the passage that Edgar must take is more painful than most. With no memory and with only a typewriter for company, he faces alienation among his people, is disregarded as retarded and is shoved out of sight by white America to a tough school for troublesome reservation children. Edgar seeks the solace of acceptance or escape, anything to take him away from the suffering of being different, of being an outsider. By showing Edgar learning about himself, understanding the world around him, and experiencing everything again for the first time, Udall explores the big explosive themes of religion, race, identity and gender with a deft hand. There is nothing ham-fisted in his treatment of these issues. They are dealt with in a quiet but direct manner, through the eyes of a child coming to terms with the absurdity of humanity. This is, in some ways, also a rags-to-riches story and the notion of what exactly it is that enriches our lives is central. Edgar must first journey before he ultimately discovers this wealth. His journey is a search for identity, for the missing gaps in his life and it is only when all these gaps are filled that Edgar can discover his true worth. --Iain Robinson --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
"Extraordinary . . . Fall-down funny . . . It's like nothing else you've ever read." "-Newsweek
"Vibrant, big-hearted . . . A poignant, picaresque odyssey." -"Chicago Tribune
"Marvelous . . . Edgar Mint is nobody's Everyman, but he is the hope and the pain of a child looking for, and eventually finding, a home." -"Los Angeles Times
"Be prepared to fall head over heels for Edgar Mint . . . a charming and delightful narrator you can't help but cheer on through the end." -"The Oregonian
"Profound and stirring . . . brilliantly executed." -"The Wall Street Journal
"Vibrant, big-hearted . . . A poignant, picaresque odyssey." -"Chicago Tribune
"Marvelous . . . Edgar Mint is nobody's Everyman, but he is the hope and the pain of a child looking for, and eventually finding, a home." -"Los Angeles Times
"Be prepared to fall head over heels for Edgar Mint . . . a charming and delightful narrator you can't help but cheer on through the end." -"The Oregonian
"Profound and stirring . . . brilliantly executed." -"The Wall Street Journal
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book ended up being a really good buy. Completely taken in by the cover's claim that the book was something a "modern Charles Dickens" would have written I couldn't put it down.
All the characters are brilliant and very believable. I think I've met with all the old men at the hospital in the book! You immediately feel for Edgar and get really drawn into all that he goes through, hilarious in some parts (especially when he gets his first "encounter" with a female!) and very touching in others. I thoroughly recommend this book!
All the characters are brilliant and very believable. I think I've met with all the old men at the hospital in the book! You immediately feel for Edgar and get really drawn into all that he goes through, hilarious in some parts (especially when he gets his first "encounter" with a female!) and very touching in others. I thoroughly recommend this book!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I feel that this book has all the ingredients of a perfect read. Edgar's life is tragic, bizarre, hear-warming, heart-wrenching and comical.
The best example of innocent Edgar's appeal is when he is about to be baptised by the Mormons and is asked if he has ever indulged in self abuse. He replies, 'I hit myself over the head with a brick once.' Anyway, read it!
The best example of innocent Edgar's appeal is when he is about to be baptised by the Mormons and is asked if he has ever indulged in self abuse. He replies, 'I hit myself over the head with a brick once.' Anyway, read it!
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brady Udall has followed up his fine collection of short stories, ' Letting Loose the Hounds', with an intense and gripping debut novel which, for better or for worse, has gained comparisons to John Irving's excellent novel, 'A Prayer for Owen Meany '. The story of Edgar Mint begins with a horrific accident befalling him. After a miraculous recovery and spell in a hospital the boy is left as a ward of the State and ends up in an Apache orphanage where survival leads to a life of petty crime and finally escape through the charity of a Mormon family. From there the story unfolds at a steady pace revealing a path to the future from a search of the threads of the past. Like Irving's book, ' The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint ' slowly but surely draws the reader into a welcoming yet surreal world. It is one of those rare books to transport you into a life which you regret having to leave at the end. Anyone who has read Udall's earlier work will not be surprised by the strength and imagination of the writing. Hopefully it will not be long before this author's next book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
It's ok but...
I recently read this book on holiday, but I wasn't as taken with it as some of the other reviewers. It's an interesting storyline concept, but I couldn't really identify with any... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jojomay
What if?
Had young Edgar not had his head run over (as it turns out by the chap who would have been a surrogate dad) and all that happened in the 8 intervening years you wonder what kind of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by aragorn17
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint
A very interesting story full of fun, sadness and poignacy. At times the action is hard to read through but the overall story is certainly unusual. Worth reading.
Published 7 months ago by B. C. Dobson
A most memorable fictional character
Edgar Mint is seven years old when the mailman's Jeep accidentally runs over his head, he is thought dead. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Benjamin
What might have been if Charles Dickens was living in Arizona today
I cannot add much to others numerous comments except to personally observe:
1. This for me was the best book of fiction I had read in many years due to its unique story... Read more
1. This for me was the best book of fiction I had read in many years due to its unique story... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Siriam
Epic
Brady Udall has produced a modern masterpiece in Miracle of Edgar Mint. This would not be out of place in an English Literature Course, such is its rich description of place,... Read more
Published 23 months ago by A. Hasnath
I loved it - A must read
This book is lovely. Such a great character - you can't help but fall in love with Edgar. Such a life story...brave, innocent, funny, heart warming and very moving in places. Read more
Published on 19 April 2010 by J. Westwell
Cheering for Edgar
I loved this book. Quirky doesn't quite do it justice - whilst it is quite dark and surreal in places, it's also very funny and heart-warming. Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2009 by Denise4891
Delightful and quirky!
I loved this book! Delightful, quirky, funny and, at times, brutal story of a little boy whose head is run over by a mail van and whose family abandon him. Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2007 by Lovetoread
A miracle life!
I picked this book up in the local library as the title appealed and read it in one sitting. Edgar's story is inspirational from his inauspicious birth to his accidental 'death'... Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2004 by Miss J Sinclair
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