A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
How I Learned to Live a Better Story
- Christian Living
- Publisher: Harper Horizon (HarperCollins Focus)
- Published: 2011
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Publisher's Description
After the publication of his wildly successful memoir, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller's life began to stall. During what should have been the height of his success, he found himself avoiding responsibility and even questioning the meaning of life. But when two producers proposed turning his memoir into a movie, Miller found himself launched into a new story filled with risk, possibility, beauty, and meaning. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years chronicles Miller's rare opportunity to edit his life into a great story and to reinvent himself so nobody shrugs their shoulders when the credits roll. When his producers begin fictionalizing Don's life for the film--changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative--the real-life Don starts a journey to make his actual life into a better story. In this book, we have a front-row seat to Miller's journey--from sleeping all day to riding his bike across America, from living in romantic daydreams to facing love head-on, from wasting his money to founding a life-changing nonprofit. Guided by a host of outlandish but very real characters, Miller teaches us: Why God hasn't fixed us yet The power of speaking something into nothing The redemptive beauty that can come from tragic circumstances How to get a second chance at life the first time around Through heart-wrenching honesty and hilarious self-inspection, Miller takes readers through the life that emerges when it turns from boring reality into a meaningful narrative.
Endorsements (13)
“Praise for A Million Miles in a Thousand Years In his funny, self deprecating style, Donald Miller is sometimes painfully honest about his life “unedited,” his weaknesses and his faith . . . and that’s all I ever choose to read.”
“I love Donald Miller. He is a man after my own heart.”
“If someone tells you they’ve read this book and they “enjoyed it” or they “liked it” or they think it’s a “good book” then maybe they didn’t read it—it’s well written and funny and interesting and all that, but it’s also disturbing. Really, really disturbing. Don is into provocative territory here, wrestling with The Story and the role each our stories play in it . . . this is very convicting, powerful, unsettling writing. I felt like this book read me more than I read it.”
“I’ve never been in Donald Miller’s living room, but this book makes me feel that I have. The stories compel, the humor works, and Don’s wisdom stealths its way on to the pages. I already want to re-read it.”
“Sly, soulful, and deeply affecting, Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is an indispensable road map and travel companion for readers seeking not only to experience better stories but to live them as well.”
“Only Donald Miller can mill the glorious wreckage of the human experience for the hue of jazz and the hope that we can live out a story worth sharing. His premise will haunt you until you set out to discover if memorable lives, like unforgettable books, often require several drafts and a loving editor.”
“the book, I couldn’t help but think about God and other people and the kind of future we’re creating together. That sounds like solid evidence that this uniquely talented and sagely writer/thinker/storyteller has given us another wonderful and life-enriching reading experience.”
“There are some writers who simply don’t have it in them to craft an inelegant sentence. Donald Miller is one of them. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years proves in story form how stories define us even more than our genes do. Read this book for an experience of sheer beauty, or for help in living a well-storied life.”
“People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to actually live that story.” He unpacks what that work looks like and how the story ends! I have great admiration for this storyteller and recommend his latest book with enthusiasm.”
“This book is an invitation. We’re taken on a journey—over mountains and water and across America on a bicycle. We find love and pain along the way, we laugh and we mourn. Through it all, we are invited to live a better story.”
“examine our own lives. From a cross-country bike ride to a living room editing session, Don’s scenes invite us to explore our own stories, wherever they may be taking place. I hope you’ll take Don up on his challenge and make your own story one worth telling.”
“As all great writers do, Don’s new book pulls you into his life story without you knowing exactly what is happening to you. You start reading a story about Don and then wake up at the steering wheel saying, What the hell? This story is about me. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is raw, funny, painful, and honest just like life really is.”
“With great honesty and insight, Don Miller issues a simple and profound challenge: live a better story. In A Million Miles in a Thousand Years Don opens up his life, struggles, triumphs, and insecurities and shows the reader how to do exactly that. The world is full of great challenges, terrible tragedies, and overwhelming joys—there is simply too much going on to be a part of a boring story. For anyone who knows that life should more than what we see on TV commercials and billboards, this is a book for you.”
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