Title: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Publication Year: 2009
Plot: Full of beautiful, heart-wrenching, and hilarious stories, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details one man’s opportunity to edit his life as if he were a character in a movie.
Years after writing his best-selling memoir, Donald Miller went into a funk and spent months sleeping in and avoiding his publisher. One story had ended, and Don was unsure how to start another.
But he gets rescued by two movie producers who want to make a movie based on his memoir. When they start fictionalizing Don’s life for film–changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative–the real-life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around.
3 of the readers exclaimed, “This was my favorite book we read this semester.” They were enthusiastic and couldn’t wait to talk about the books. When I asked what they loved about Miller’s memoir, they didn’t know where to start. “I found it a great starting point for self-reflection,” one reader said. “When I got to prison, I thought my life was over. But I realized that I’m still writing my story, one page at a time. My life goes on.”
The readers talked about the natural inclination people have to want to go back and “edit our life; to make things better. But then we wouldn’t be us! A lot of Miller’s writings was universal–the readers resonated with many of his examples. They also appreciated that the book isn’t preachy. There is talk of God, yes, but there’s not really talk of religion, or worship. The idea of God wanting us to enjoy life while we bond with him appealed to many readers.
We talked quite a bit about how to be a better character in our own story, and how important that is. Your story is infinitely better when you are a better character. One reader reiterated, “You can get better or get bitter.” Along these lines, many readers pointed out what their “inciting incidents” have been. Many mentioned abuse, their arrest, or their sobriety. They talked about the role that fear has played in their lives. “Fear can trick us into being boring” was one of their favorite quotes. We can be manipulated by fear or overcome it.
The readers were all inspired. They feel like the world needs them to be better storytellers. The stories they tell themselves are different than the ones we share. People are just people–we all want the same things. And it’s a lack of communication that is at the root of so many problems in the world. The readers recognized, after reading this novel, that comfort can be deadly to ambition. Risk is essential to growing as a person. In order to be a better character, we need to take advantage of the opportunities before us. The readers are finding meaning in prison, and look forward to finding meaning after prison.
It was a great way to finish the book club on memoirs. After reading about a unique array of characters and experiences, it was good to think back on our own experiences, the experiences of others, and think of how to write our own stories.
Thanks for joining us for this group! We really appreciate it. We hope to have another group up and running this summer!
Feel free to leave comments below. We’d love to hear what you think.
Until next time,
E.
If you’d like to purchase The Woman Warrior, you may do so here:
