The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint: A Novel - Softcover

Udall, Brady

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0375719180 ISBN 13: 9780375719189

Publisher: Vintage Books, 2002

Synopsis

Half Apache and orphaned, Edgar's trials begin on an Arizona reservation at the age of seven when he is run over by the mailman's jeep, after which he is taken from the hospital to a school for delinquents to a Mormon foster family, and eventually to an unexpected home on a quest for the mailman. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.

About this title

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

Review:

"Original and sympathetic... Like John Iriving he draws credible, emotionally engaging characters, who find themselves afflicted by the oddest and most unexpected of mishaps... One of those rare novels that is so touching and so odd, you couldn't make it up" (The Times)

"One of the most enjoyable reads of the year" (Time Out)

"Peopled with beautifully-drawn characters and full of colour, drama and pathos, this is a superb first novel" (Scotland on Sunday)

"If this was a film it would be made by the Coen brothers. Quirky, charming and very funny" (Mirror)

"Very accomplished... Edgar is a brilliant creation" (The Bookseller)

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0375719180
• ISBN 13: 9780375719189
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 423