Miracles happen, but part of what makes them miracles is that we don’t know how or why. Our concepts of faith, religion, or a just and balanced universe may help us deal with uncertainty, but they also say something about how we see ourselves. In Jonathan Miles’s new, Dave-Eggers-praised novel, Anatomy of a Miracle: A Novel*, these themes are explored in a fictional story presented as a journalistic report (hence the asterisk in the title) of a paraplegic man who suddenly, inexplicably rises from his wheelchair. Whether this was the result of divine intervention or scientific breakthrough prompts international controversy and weighs upon the man himself, who goes from person to symbol overnight. Miles will read from and discuss the book with Duke professor Tom Rankin, exploring the questions raised by his storyand whether there are any actual answers.
