Through Painted Deserts will always be my favorite book. I think an author always likes his or her first book the best. I wrote it about five years ago and printed it with a conservative publishing company that, because of their market, needed to edit out some of the more authentic events and dialogue that took place on the road trip the book chronicled. In the rewrite, I put most of this stuff back. I took the rewrite pretty seriously, going so far as to get in my car and spend three months (longer than the actual trip itself) going back and visiting old haunts. I dont know if that helped the book very much, but it was definately fun. I have even wondered if a book about rewriting the book might be appropriate. In the second trip, I was dealing with a lot of forgiveness issues/identity issues that might make for interesting introspection. But I am a bit tired of writing about myself, so that might need to wait a few years.

What you will find in Through Painted Deserts is the begining of a long trail of walking away from home, from religion and from an american version of Christianity. You will also be introduced to Paul Harris, who, to this day, is my best friend in this world. Paul and I were strangers when we left Houston together, and so its a book about the begining of a friendship as much as it is about leaving different things.

I was reading a lot of Steinbeck and Hemingway when I wrote it the first time, and had moved on to Annie Dillard and more poetic voices in the rewrite. I found the combination interesting, although I think Steinbeck would roll over in his grave if he knew somebody was trying to imitate him, only adding poetics.

Rewriting the old book brought back some terrific memories. I even felt old crushes again as I wrote about some of the characters I had feelings for, and I missed the woods. I had just bought a house in Portland when I wrapped up the book and have begun to ache for the woods again, for freedom. I think it is very easy for us to think that life is just life, that beauty is something you go see every few years on family vacation. That's a lie, it turns out. The invitation is always open.

A Review from The Dallas Morning News:

If you're a Donald Miller fan, this one's an update of his relatively unknown first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance, a hilarious yet poignant all-American road trip.

Mr. Miller and a friend take a 1971 Volkswagen van from Texas to Oregon: two guys on a pilgrimage to do life in a simpler way and find God in shared conversations and America's scenery. It's hardly a religious book, and yet Mr. Miller, true to his Blue Like Jazz style, calls his readers and himself to contemplate life's "why" instead of "how."

Through Mr. Miller's raw vulnerability and vivid writing, the book is an engaging tale.

Warning: Could cause unquenchable wanderlust and a sudden urge to search eBay for a used VW van.

-Dallas Morning News