Rating: 
Summary: Good Summer Read
Review: This is a good, sweet summer read. It struck me as being somewhat in the "White Oleander" vein: what else could go wrong in one person's life? The middle is a bit drawn out, but for me, the ending was lovely and sweet and made suffering through some of the middle well worth it. Edgar Mint is a marvellous character and by the end I just wanted to give him a big hug. I look forward to reading more works by this author as this book hints at greater things to come.
Rating: 
Summary: This will be on your Top Ten list!
Review: I am just finishing The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, and find myself desperately trying to tell everyone I know about this miracle of a book. For those who have Handling Sin (by Michael Malone), Animal Dreams (by Barbara Kingsolver) or even The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood (by Rebecca Wells) on their top ten lists, make a new space for Brady Udall's Edgar Mint. Touching, troubled, and comical, this book is both heart stopping and heart lifting at the same time. Read it now, and you will treasure it as your own secret,-- until its discovered by the rest of the world.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable 1st novel
Review: For some strange reason this novel reminded me of 'A Confederacy of Dunces.' The two books couldn't be more different but they both have engaging narrators. Edgar Mint is the half-breed Indian boy growing up in northeast Arizona making his way after a life changing accident. Writer Udall employs first and third person narrative in his first novel. It works quite well. He has written an enjoyable but poignant story of Edgar whose naivete and gentle spirit help him navigate the travails of being harassed and beaten at his Indian boarding school. Then adopted by Mormon parents (a new one) and then searches for the mailman who ran over his head. So good I'm waiting for Udall to write another one.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not yet great
Review: I loved Brady Udall's short story collection, "Letting Loose the Hounds" so I looked forward to reading his first novel. I was a little disappointed in "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint." It seemed to lack the fire and punch of Udall's short stories. Edgar Mint's life is definitely a strange and interesting one, but the book is really just a series of vignettes that, in the end, add up to little more than "one page of happy [or miserable] nonsense after another." Brady Udall has a strong narrative voice and is a fine storyteller. I think he has the capacity to grab your heart and sear your soul, but that potential was narrowly missed in "Edgar Mint." Write another one, Mr. Udall! And keep writing those short stories too.
Rating:
Summary: John Irving move over!
Review: If you liked Owen Meaney, you'll LOVE Edgar Mint! Fast-paced, incredibly detailed, just plain amazing. Couldn't put it down - finished it in a day and then held it in my hands not wanting to stop. Surprises right up to the end.
Rating:
Summary: Touching, rewarding AND funny!
Review: If there was ever a time to use the word "tragicomedy," this is it! Udall has created a tragic character in Edgar Mint who, nevertheless, manages to make us laugh out loud. From his "accident" with the head-crushing mail truck, to his placement in an Indian reservation school where the children take every opportunity to beat him up, to his conversion to the Latter Day Saints, Edgar remains an affable and perplexing orphan in search of a family and a home. I look forward to more work by this young author.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: It doesn't get any better than this.
Rating:
Summary: A story with humor, hope and lots and lots of heart!
Review: Brady Udall's coming-of-age story is about a young half-Indian boy's struggle to survive, grow and emerge intact. Udall's tale pulls you in and never lets you go. Edgar Presley Mint manages to maintain a sense of hope (and humor) throughout his sometimes pathetic, often painful, but ultimately successful childhood. It could be that Edgar's deliverance from pathos is his ability to understand and take with him the best of the life lessons imparted by his various 'saviors'. However,I find it far more likely that it is Edgar's capacity to avoid bitterness and despair at these well-meaning, but imprudent, attempts to save his life.
Rating:
Summary: A perfect book
Review: A memorable title character, a boy who survives his many losses. An improbable, yet believable and exceptionally well-written novel.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT QUITE MINT CONDITION
Review: I know that two major magazines, NEWSWEEK and ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, chose this as the second best novel of 2001, but I would hesitate to include it on the same list as THE CORRECTIONS. Although Edgar's story is a stirring one, and there are, inarguably, some memorable scenes, something was missing for me. There is a flatness to the writing that never allowed me to completely lose myself. Unlike CIDER HOUSE RULES or even CRAZY IN ALABAMA, there is a kind of emotional distance here that kept me from becoming competely absored by Edgar's story. I couldn't help but like the kid, but even pinnacle scenes (a bow and arrow fight, an attempted suicide, a tumble down the stairs, a murder) seemed fuzzy or rushed. I read the rave reviews here, and I think to myself, have I read so many books that the simple pleasure of a well-told story is not engough? Does there have to be some verbal showmanship or literary trick? (See THE CORRECTIONS, which I loved.) But I think back to YEAR OF WONDERS, a well-told story I read earlier this year, a story that was somehow more satisying in the end than this one. It's kind of like the difference between the films A BEAUTIFUL MIND and IN THE BEDROOM. The former told a story well; the latter allowed me to do some of the work, which, in the end, is the mandate of all valid art.
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