I’m thinking that Miller’s book might be a bit like book reviews should be; you just want to go out and get the book – because the review isn’t telling you enough about the actual story, and you want first-hand knowledge, not merely someone else’s opinion…

This is a book about the idea of story. About writing your own story, or rather, living your own story in such a way as to give it meaning, significance. To use an image Miller borrows; Sometimes you’ve got to be in the parade, not merely watching from the sidewalk. But also, perhaps ironically, the book creates that problem for me as a reader, it turns me into an observer, and a second-hand one at that.

Perhaps it’s the nature of these kinds of reflective books, memoirs, in that someone is re-telling a bit of their own story about the people they’ve met, the experiences they’ve chosen to build their lives with…so it makes me want to be living the story too, not just reading about it. Along the same lines, it feels a bit light-weight. It leaves me still a bit peckish, like I should have had the steak, not the Chicken Caesar. Maybe it’s like one of those great conversations you enjoy with that very likeable guy you run in to every couple of months or so, but then you just want to open a bottle of wine with one of your best mates and get down to a real conversation.

As someone who is passionate about words, I love reading stories about writers and writing… so that makes this book enjoyable on that level, but as someone who seeks to live a real story, I want to hear the tales of some of the people Miller is meeting and quoting. There’s that biography I will look up, and the research I will do… so I can hear the story first-hand.

A book, like any review, will tell you as much about the person who wrote it, as it tells the tale of that other thing, or that other place… so, perhaps you know me a little more… So, if you want to get to know Don Miller a little more, and want to get inspired to live life a bit more, buy the book. It’s a good read. But don’t let someone else’s story get in the way of your own. Get going!

PS I just have to say, Booksneeze gave me this book for free, in order for me to review it. So, I had to read it! It was worth it in the end…

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