Donald Miller's book "Blue Like Jazz," is a fantastic novel about soul searching, philosophy, and figuring out who and what you are and why. What I enjoy about Miller's book is that he's not speaking from a position of authority trying to impart his wisdom. He's openly searching to make sure he knows what he believes, to re-study and re-challenge his beliefs to make sure he's not living a lie, but that he is fully who he is.

Some people are annoyed because this does present the problem of an author who lacks some of the solid authority that other authors tend to have when writing non-fiction, but in this case it's refreshing. Miller's ability to speak about Christianity as something that should be a living faith, not a boxed up religion, and his struggle with how the latter makes it hard to believe in the former, is amazing.

This is enjoyable because Donald Miller's writing style shows that he's not just a Christian trying to be a spiritual writer, but that he is a good writer who understands style and flow before writing openly and honestly about his own experiences. I really like the honesty. He doesn't try to come from a position of authority while talking about how he's searching for himself (I mean, how could he do that and be honest? Isn't the point of searching yourself and your faith to really searh?). He doesn't always know where he's coming from, but that's good, because he's searching and allowing the reader to come along and see.

The metaphor of faith like blues, the honesty of Donald Miller's questions about his own faith and spiritual walk, and the endearing stories of his own life make this a quality work. The writing style is smooth, often successfully emulating the blues that he compares his faith to. This is a great spiritual book, and one that is a good read that will stick with you.

What hits me as especially interesting is that many conservative right wing Christians probably won't like this book nearly as much as an agnostic, or as a spiritualist. Yet the honesty in this book is exactly what the faith itself needs more of in the churches across America.

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