The best book of short stories I have ever read. If you like Thom Jones, Denis Johnson or T.C. Boyle, then give this book a shot.

Udall has caught the flavor of the southwest and of those who live there. These are some of the kinder and mood-fulfilling stories I have read in a while. Curious as to whether he is related to Stewart or Mo...

Wonderfully funny, touching stories. Udall is a name to keep your eyes peeled for. A must read.

This is one of those novels that once started, I could not put down. Edgar's story over the eight years that comprise the subject for this novel is fascinating, horrifying, engrossing, and oh, so human. It's certainly one of the most enjoyable books I've read in recent years, and for that reason alone I would recommend it. Yes, the style and tone are reminiscent of John Irving, which in term places Udall squarely in the storytelling tradition of Charles Dickens. The difficult-journey-with-tribulations-but-with-hope-and-human-virtues-always-maintained is certainly what we've got with Edgar Mint, starting with the very first sentence regarding how the mailman ran over his head. Udall writes with wit and an overall tinge of black humor, and right up until the very end of the book, Edgar's journey, while sometimes fantastic and unlikely, is certainly a fascinating one.

My only quarrel with Udall (and the reason for my awarding the book four stars instead of five) has to do with the ending. I don't want to include any spoilers, but suffice it to say that the final chapter of the book includes a layer of warm-and-cloying that for my taste was laid on just a bit too thickly. Are we to believe that in a world in which schoolboys torture one another while the responsible adults sit by obliviously, where Native Americans drink themselves to death while regarding their own offspring with complete indifference, where people are forced to resort to the most horrifying crimes in order to ensure their own survival, suddenly life can transform into a never-ending succession of *Saturday Evening Post* covers? This kind of naively moralistic *telos* certainly worked for Dickens, but that was in a different time and literary context. At the conclusion of the book I felt warm and fuzzy and happy for Edgar, but the little voice inside me was protesting that in the context of 2001 this ending veritably screamed 'made for Hollywood,' and I found this disappointing.

(...)Should you enter a large bookstore you won't find it on the "hot picks" shelf or in the "best sellers" section either. The reasons that so many great books don't surface to the top are many and why so many gifted authors have day jobs as well. It is a shame that literary accomplishments like The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall don't get the mass recognition they deserve because the marketing wasn't there or the promotional process was limited or the author had no previous best sellers. This is a wonderful and unforgettable book about a wonderful and unforgettable character. From the moment in the early pages when young Edgar is run over by the mailman, as event after event in Edgar's miraculous life unfolds and through to the closing chapters, you are in for a an inspiring reading experience that will at different times leave you utterly joyous, emotional, in disbelief, and everywhere in between. Udall's writing style is simple yet his words on paper are like colors on a canvas, he is a master storyteller. The only disappointing moment is in the closing pages when the last words are read because one wishes there had been another 400 pages more to enjoy.

I picked up Brady Udall's first novel on a whim. I often judge books by their covers, and this one, with its colorful, quirky photo seemed to advertise a book of the same qualities. I was not disappointed.

"The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint" is one of the best books I've read in some time. Very Dickensian in its structure, Edgar is something of an Apache Oliver Twist, an orphan with a heart of gold (mostly) who is set on hard times from the moment he takes his first breath. The novel is filled with interesting (and sometimes lovable) characters, and an interesting and (as you might guess) meandering plot, in which these many characters are met along the way. Similar also in tone to John Irving, the book has a black comic heart--- Edgar's skull-crushing accident at the hands of a mailman in the first line is something Irving might have constructed himself, and might possibly envy Udall for.

Finally, and most importantly, this guy can write. Not just funny situations or laughably ludicrous characters, but some pages I found reading again or lingering on for the subtlety or beauty that Mr. Udall has created. Overall, a great first novel. I truly can't wait for another. Let's hope Udall isn't that breed of writer that gets that one great work out of his system, only to disappear into a life of anonymity.