Picked it up as a lark. The cover says he writes somewhat like Anne Lamott--that is, he can be very funny--and I'm finding that to be true.

I don't agree totally with all of his theology (but then again, whose theology do I agree totally with) but I liked the book. Miller is humble, very humorous, vulnerable and deeply committed to being a follower of Jesus, which is different that being a subscriber to Christianity, which Miller is not. He shares personal experiences on subjects many Christians don't talk about.

A worthwhile read.

I thought of several different ways in which to begin this review - several witty comparisons that would surely catch the reader's attention. But that was a month and a half ago. See, I started reading Blue Like Jazz on the 20th of July and it is now the 4th of October. I have four pages left and I'm not sure I have the strength to continue.

For you see: Donald Miller is wearying. Endlessly self-amused and self-absorbed, he seems to want nothing so much as to be hip, cool, edgy (despite his own protests that hip, edgy, and cool are vanities and wastes of time and energy). And if four years of highschool taught me anything, it is that everyone with a heart is thoroughly and deeply embarrassed when the Very Not Cool Guy walks in and tries to be cool. Think: The Offspring's "Pretty Fly for a White Guy."

The thing is: Christianity cannot be cool. There is no reason non-believers should see Christianity as anything even on the same plane as Cool. Christianity says and believes terrifying things about the non-believer. Forget the homosexuals a minute - Christianity says that the friendly, tax-paying, socially-active, community-leading paragon of virtue who doesn't bow the knee to Christ is horribly sinful and an actual enemy of God. No matter how kind and cool they are. For Christianity to become cool, it has to stop having anything to do with Christ and his message. Maybe Donald Miller wants that. It kinda seems like it, but who can say - since he's not that great at expressing anything beyond his own meandering and fleeting feelings on matters.

About two-thirds into the book, a friend (who won't receive and identity via nickname, such as Tony the Beat Poet or Andrew the Protester) ask me what kind of a book it was. I had a hard time describing it at first. Then I realized: OMG!! I'm reading a blog on paper! LOLZ!! KBAI! Really, Miller's book is nothing more than a glorified blog in its meandering promise to get to a point that never comes. In reality, Miller would make a much better blogger than he does a writer. Unfortunately, even as a blogger, he would only be so good - because despite moments of value and bits that come close to insight, his style is heavy-handed and obvious for too much of the book's 240 pages (I know, only 240 pages and it's taken me almost two-and-a-half months!). I think his would probably sit in the Occasional Reads section of my blogroll, checked only so often for fodder for my own blog postings—and only out of some sense of duty because he linked to me first.

One good-but-obvious point Miller makes throughout the book is that the human expression of Christianity in the contemporary American church is lacking at best, gravely flawed at worst, but most likely, somewhere in between. This is clearly true. But also clearly known to probably most of us. And the real problems are not often the ones that Miller is pointing out - he seems frequently upset at how little the church fits in with a world filled with lovely sinners. Yet still, there is value in his critique.

But not much. Again Miller shows himself to be like too many bloggers; and like too many bloggers, he has much criticism and too few answers. If he were a blogger, this might be acceptable; after all, the only cost associated with reading a blog is time (and perhaps mental health). A book, however, is paid in currency. There is real loss if a book does not measure up to its published value - and Blue Like Jazz does not. I hate to say that because there are a few amusing stories and I get the feeling the book wants to be useful - but it just isn't.

this book is unlike any other I've read. it's not particularly rich, theologically or doctrinally, it's not a deep analysis of any particular topic; it's really a collection of musings by miller on faith, love, and grace. i felt SO SEEN by some of the stuff he said - just really honest reflections on the gospel, overcoming doubt, living out convictions, etc. one of my favorite passages:

"At the end of the day, when I am lying in bed and I know the chances of any of our theology being exactly right are a million to one, I need to know that God has things figured out, that if my math is wrong we are still going to be okay. And wonder is that feeling we get when we let go of our silly answers, our mapped out rules that we want God to follow. I don't think there is any better worship than wonder."

This is one of those books that becomes popular for reasons beyond my understanding. Like pegged pants in six grade, Blue Like Jazz seems to be cool just because someone somewhere says so. But no one stopped to ask, really? It's cool to tightly bind your cuffs like fruit roll-ups and jack them up three inches above your Reebok Pumps? What is weird is that this book which praises non-religious thoughts on Christian spirituality on some journey with a nebulous destination was (now the popular book of the day is Crazy Love which probably makes me dated since that book is probably so 2009 now) popular among those who were reared in an environment of religious thought, but who were told that Christian spirituality was really evident by externals. It is sad when moralism is exchanged by relativism. Whatever happened to good old confessionalism, with its confession of truth that governs practice and which encourages the diligent use of the ordinary means of grace (Word, Sacraments, Prayer)...now that is real piety...errrrr, spirituality. But, I will say, Donald Miller is an engaging writer and a great story teller.