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Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time or your money.
Review: Customer reviews and a review in a Christian magazine led me to buy this book expecting something profound and meaningful. Being both a Christian and a scholar fascinated by the trope of the journey, I was looking for literature that combined both spirituality and deep intellectual/philosophical considerations. What I got was a thin paperback full of typical fundamentalist rhetoric, the assumption that to be a Christian is to be a white male Republican, and the highly individualistic kind of faith that plagues Christianity today. (He is NOT the next C.S. Lewis, by the way, there can never be another Lewis, and Miller seems to lack Miller's intellectual depth and literary skill). The book was slightly entertaining, but too stereotypically "Christian" to stimulate any serious thought. Look elsewhere for intellectually challenging work. If, though, you are a fan of the likes of Max Lucado or the Left Behind type of pulp fiction, you might enjoy the difficulty of Miller's book. I read it in a couple of days and promptly gave it away to a less demanding friend of mine...
Rating: 
Summary: Just what I needed
Review: Donald Miller is an excellent author with great ideas. This book is not a masterpiece by any means, that is what makes it so great! It's easy reading, and it deals with so many of the issues that are facing Christianity today. Beyond being solid Christian reading, this book is incredibly entertaining. I love golf, and after reading this book, I can't wait to play it Donald Miller style! (Read it, and you'll find out!) I highly recommend it to all people in all walks of life, in every step of faith, it's worth your time, and your money!
Rating:
Summary: This book took me on a journey.
Review: I love journey books! John Steinbeck wrote that people don't just take journeys: journeys take people. The best journeys are not just trips but journeys of the soul, the journeys that trips take people on. Don Miller's was one such journey of a Christian who through his travels found a deeper relationship with God. I found Miller's writing style clever, poetic, at times funny. The book was a pleasure to read, and I hope he writes another book soon. I could relate to his spiritual problems. I too have wanted a deeper relationship with God but found that the more I tried, the more frustrated I got. Like Miller, I have slowly developed a deeper relationship through the everyday journey of life. Those people looking for a book filled with theology, scripture, moving testimony, and parables will be disappointed. This book doesn't smother the reader with Jesus, and in my opinion this is a strong point. Instead, the emerging and often surprising events and people he comes in contact with sometimes prompt the narrator to reflect on biblical truths. I could really imagine taking this journey with the author. Does anybody out there have an old VW van you're willing to sell me?
Rating:
Summary: This book took me on a journey.
Review: I love journey books! John Steinbeck wrote that people don't just take journeys: journeys take people. The best journeys are not just trips but journeys of the soul, the journeys that trips take people on. Don Miller's was one such journey of a Christian who through his travels found a deeper relationship with God. I found Miller's writing style clever, poetic, at times funny. The book was a pleasure to read, and I hope he writes another book soon. I could relate to his spiritual problems. I too have wanted a deeper relationship with God but found that the more I tried, the more frustrated I got. Like Miller, I have slowly developed a deeper relationship through the everyday journey of life. Those people looking for a book filled with theology, scripture, moving testimony, and parables will be disappointed. This book doesn't smother the reader with Jesus, and in my opinion this is a strong point. Instead, the emerging and often surprising events and people he comes in contact with sometimes prompt the narrator to reflect on biblical truths. I could really imagine taking this journey with the author. Does anybody out there have an old VW van you're willing to sell me?
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and lyrical
Review: I was given this book by my husband, who is a friend of Miller's from their years at Good Shepherd. Since I'm the fiction reader in our family, I was a little skeptical by Pepper's overwhelmingly glowing review (I wanted to decide for myself, you see). It took me only until the middle of the first chapter to become deeply and totally engrossed.
In retrospect, I can say that I enjoyed the book on a number of different levels. First, the geographic odyssey that the boys took wends its way into my home state and, more specifically, through my hometown region. Miller writes about the splendor of the country through which they drive with the appreciation of a true adventure seeker. (Especially enjoyable was his account of their trek into--and out of--the Grand Canyon.)
Second, his writing style--a combination of his dry humor and his characters' witty repartee--kept me guessing as to the next conversational twist. His characters are real and they are believable; I deeply appreciate that. I also enjoyed the honesty that his first-person perspective offered. I was pleasantly surprised by how captivated I found myself while reading about the journal entries and silent musings of his main character.
More than anything, however, I enjoyed the spiritual aspect that the book offered. By the end of the book, I, too, felt that I had taken a spiritual journey, met with a crisis of faith, and been sated by the Father's love.
I highly recommend this book. Miller is on his way to great things, and I eagerly await his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!
Review: I was talking to a pastor friend of mine just last week. I told him that I was giving considerable thought to jumping into my truck and driving across the country to see where God would lead me. He told me a HAD to read this book, so I did. And he was right for so many reasons! I am experiencing so much of what Miller is talking about. From the concept of casual christianity or "poppycock religion" as he calls it, to just trusting in God for ALL things. I am actually sad that the book ended. I was considering keeping a journal of my travels so that I could write a book about it, but after reading Miller's account, I am intimidated. He is, quite simply, a wordsmith. I don't think I could ever write as eloquently as he does. I guess I'll just have to wait for his NEXT book. Bring it on, I'm eagerly waiting.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for the Journey.
Review: There's something about the idea of "finding oneself" on the open road that really gets me going. I'm a sucker for any book along those lines, whether it's about a spontaneous summer road-trip across the States, or the tale of an epic backpacking journey around the world. There's a special place in my heart for the somewhat rare Christian-themed story of this nature, and that's where this excellent book comes in. Adventures like this tend to be lived out by the younger crowd - those in their late teens or early twenties, anxious to see what's "out there" in the world and learn something about themselves in the process. In "Prayer and the Art of Volkswagon Maintenance," the two protagonists fit this description to a tee. Donald and Paul are young twentysomething Christian men, and they have a desire to know God in a deeper sense. Their solution - a road trip! Starting from Texas, they decide to head off to Oregon in Paul's beat-up VW van. Along the way, they discuss the usual questions that young men wrestle with - relationships with women, their future, and so on. They also meet a number of interesting characters on the road, usually when struggling with their somewhat unreliable vehicle. However, since this book has a Christian slant, there is spiritual depth as well. Both of these guys really do want to go deeper with God, and they end up digging into some serious meat along those lines. Donald, driven by intellect and facts, repeatedly explores the book of Ecclesiastes during the trip in an attempt to make sense of the time we are given upon this world. Paul is more in tune with his feelings and emotions, and goes to a deeper level with God via prayer during some tense moments. Together they make the perfect team for this type of excursion, and both come to know more about themselves and their God. All of this is expertly chronicled by Donald's outstanding writing - he made me feel that I was right along with them every step of the way. The neatest thing about this book for me was their detour through my hometown, and the awesome consequence of that seemingly insignificant decision (SPOILER HINT: it has to do with marriage). How cool is that?! Absolutely recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Great book for the Journey.
Review: There's something about the idea of "finding oneself" on the open road that really gets me going. I'm a sucker for any book along those lines, whether it's about a spontaneous summer road-trip across the States, or the tale of an epic backpacking journey around the world. There's a special place in my heart for the somewhat rare Christian-themed story of this nature, and that's where this excellent book comes in. Adventures like this tend to be lived out by the younger crowd - those in their late teens or early twenties, anxious to see what's "out there" in the world and learn something about themselves in the process. In "Prayer and the Art of Volkswagon Maintenance," the two protagonists fit this description to a tee. Donald and Paul are young twentysomething Christian men, and they have a desire to know God in a deeper sense. Their solution - a road trip! Starting from Texas, they decide to head off to Oregon in Paul's beat-up VW van. Along the way, they discuss the usual questions that young men wrestle with - relationships with women, their future, and so on. They also meet a number of interesting characters on the road, usually when struggling with their somewhat unreliable vehicle. However, since this book has a Christian slant, there is spiritual depth as well. Both of these guys really do want to go deeper with God, and they end up digging into some serious meat along those lines. Donald, driven by intellect and facts, repeatedly explores the book of Ecclesiastes during the trip in an attempt to make sense of the time we are given upon this world. Paul is more in tune with his feelings and emotions, and goes to a deeper level with God via prayer during some tense moments. Together they make the perfect team for this type of excursion, and both come to know more about themselves and their God. All of this is expertly chronicled by Donald's outstanding writing - he made me feel that I was right along with them every step of the way. The neatest thing about this book for me was their detour through my hometown, and the awesome consequence of that seemingly insignificant decision (SPOILER HINT: it has to do with marriage). How cool is that?! Absolutely recommended!
Rating:
Summary: On the road to a deeper faith
Review: This book is not only about the journey of a couple of guys from Houston to Oregon in a beat-up old VW van. It is a spiritual journey, as well, from a rather theoretical type of Christianity to a really deep relationship with God. All the fun, the trials and tribulations, and the camraderie contribute to a great story, yes, but there are spiritual issues here that resonate very much with me, and, I suspect, many Christians. I don't know how many liberties the author took with what actually happened, but this book is 100% real. It's definitely one of the top two or three books I've read in the past year, and, in a more perfect world, would be a best-seller.
Rating:
Summary: Just what I needed
Review: This book was given to me by a friend a couple of years ago and I've read it about 5 times now. It was given to me at a time when I was searching for a closer relationship with God. No, this book didn't give me any divine revelation, but it did help me realize that all I had to do was be honest and humble before God. Stop trying to control my life and turn it all over to God. One reviewer said that Donald Miller will never be the next C.S. Lewis and all I have to say to that is thank God. Yes, C.S. Lewis was a skilled man, but this is a book that most anyone can read and get something out of. I think christianity has too many puffed up wanna be intellectuals as it is. I'm glad that this book will also appeal to non-Christians and hopefully help lead them to Christ, which is what we're all here to do right, and not scare them away or make their heads hurt so bad their nose bleeds. Well, my point is that this is a great book..
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