The Book of Flying Hardback - 2004

de Miller, Keith

A bold, vivid, fantastical first novel about a young librarian who sets off on a magical journey to gain his wings in order to win the heart of the girl he loves. The Book of Flying is a satisfying, old-fashioned story-driven by the sheer power of imagination and the beauty of language.

Pico is an orphaned librarian who has been sustained all of his young life by his love of stories alone. But when love does come to him at last, it is forbidden. For the girl of his dreams is of the winged people in the City by the Sea. And Pico is wingless. So when he discovers an ancient letter in his library telling of the mythical Morning Town where the flightless may gain their wings, he sets off on a quest, carrying his four favorite books in a knapsack. It's a magical journey in which he meets a robber queen, a lonely minotaur, a dream seller, a despairing cannibal, and an immortal beauty. Each of them has a story, and a lesson for Pico. And, in the end, he has learned to kill, to love, to persevere, and, of course, to fly.

Pico's journey is Everyman's journey. But it's also special for being a reader's journey, because Pico's lessons are revealed through stories as much as they are through life. And after all, it's in books that our hearts open to other people and places. In this impressionable first novel, Keith Miller has created a tantalizingly foreign yet familiar world where our own imaginations take flight, carrying us, finally, to discover ourselves.

Keith Miller is an American who was born in Tanzania, raised in Kenya, and wrote this novel while traveling in southern Sudan. He now lives in Egypt, where he is a design consultant and art teacher at a center for refugees.