To Own a Dragon: Reflections On Growing Up Without A Father (Paperback)

by Donald Miller (Author), John MacMurray (Author)
Key Phrases: choppy air, toward empathy, Stay Out, Promise Keepers, Mount Hood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Join Donald Miller, the best-selling author of Blue Like Jazz, with mentor John MacMurray, as he presents a thought-provoking and humorous chronicle of lessons found in a life without a Dad.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: NavPress Publishing Group (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576837319
• ISBN-13: 978-1576837313
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,434 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read even for non-Christian women with fathers, April 10, 2006

By	Gen of www.LibraryOfEden.com (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I am a non-Christian woman with a father, and I picked this book up because I really enjoyed Blue Like Jazz and love Donald Miller's writing style. Miller writes from the heart, and so even though his childhood experience wasn't like my own, I felt a lot of connection with and interest in his story.

First, this is definitely a book aimed at Christians or those people who at the very least do not mind people talking about God and the nature of our relationship with God. Miller's particular journey led him to allow God to father him in a sense, and for him, letting go of some of the anger and resentment he felt for being fatherless involved thinking about the things which boys and men get from fathers and trying to allow God to provide for him in those ways.

Miller talks about his journey towards maturity and manhood and what those things mean to him. He tells us about the men in his life who have mentored him and talks about the lessons and gifts he has recieved from each experience with these mentors.

He keeps it very personal and doesn't try to tell everyone else what will work for them; this isn't a self-help book, rather a personal exploration of what manhood means to a Christian, and how he personally got through some of the minefields and tough times and grew into Godly manhood.

The way he kept it so personal made it a good read for anyone. Many of us have parents who didn't provide for our every emotional need or who sometimes had problems of their own, and Miller's experiences and insights are broadly interesting enough to make it a good read for anybody.

If you aren't a fatherless man, though, I'd recommend Blue Like Jazz as your introduction to Miller's work - read this one second.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Stars...Very Good, but Could've Gone Deeper, April 29, 2006

By	Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Donald Miller, with trademark warmth and honesty, serves up a wonderful book on the issue of fatherless children/adults and the struggles they face. The epidemic of broken homes is dealt with here in a loving, yet forthright manner. We all deal with the consequences, whether first or secondhand.

Written with a breezy style aimed for male readers, "To Own a Dragon" examines the effects that such a childhood had on Miller. I grew up with a loving, caring father--and yet he left our family when I was a teenager. This changed our family forever, leaving me with many of the struggles this book depicts.

Miller never seems to shy from the truth in the issues he addresses, but he does seem to pull back a bit in certain areas. For example, he glosses over the sexual effects, never even exploring the issue of homosexuality and its possible connections. I'm not saying he needed to address such things, but it would've given this book the punch it needed to do the greatest good. He is a writer with the ability to pull it off.

Despite this caveat, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. "To Own a Dragon" is a necessary prescription in the life of thousands of boys and men who face these questions. It's also a glimpse into the male heart and mind for those women who decide to dive into these pages.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A reflection of myself..., February 24, 2007

By	David Lerner (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There came a point in "To Own a Dragon" that I had to stop reading and put the book down for about a week. There was too much that was being stirred up within myself that needed to be processed before I could finish the book. I have never experienced such a profoundly moving read.

Though my life experience is not an exact duplicate of Miller's, there was much that I still gleaned from what he had to say. I lost track of how many times Miller was able to put words to feelings and "mental fogs" that I had been living with, but have never voiced for myself.

Miller's writing style is simple, and his candor is refreshing (for instance, his definition of a "real man"). His words are compelling and inspiring. I would recommend reading it not only to anyone who knows what it is to be fatherless, but to anyone who is doing life with such a person. It is an eye-opening, hope-renewing work, and I am deeply grateful to Mr. Miller for having written it...