Mary U. Miller is an American fiction writer. She is the author of two collections of short stories entitled Big World[1] and Always Happy Hour.[2] Her debut novel entitled The Last Days of California was published by Liveright.[1] It is the story of a fourteen-year-old girl on a family road trip from the South to California, led by her evangelical father.[3] By January 2014, Big World had sold 3,000 copies and Last Days of California had an initial print run of 25,000.[1]
Last Days of California was recommended by numerous newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times,[4] the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,[5] the New York Times,[6] and Oprah's Book Club.[7]New York Times book critic Laurie Muchnick described her book as a "terrific first novel."[8]Chicago Tribune critic Laura Pearson wrote that it had "vivid but unfussy prose, pitched perfectly to the attitudes and observations of a teenage girl adrift."[9]Wall Street Journal critic Sam Sacks gave the book a mixed review, finding disappointment in that Miller's insight into characters did not extend to the subject of religious belief.[10] Critic Josh Cook in the Star Tribune gave the book a mixed review, saying it had "plenty here" but that some scenes felt "amiss".[11] Miller is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas.[12] In 2014 she was the John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence at Ole Miss.[13]
^ abcdJulie Buntin (Jan 17, 2014). "A Debut Novel's Long Road to Publication: Mary Miller". Publishers' Weekly. Retrieved Sep 12, 2014. ... Liveright, the W.W. Norton imprint, ... To date, Big World has sold around 3,000 copies. Liveright, on the other hand, is doing an announced a first print run of 25,000 copies for The Last Days of California, ...
^CAROLYN KELLOGG (April 17, 2014). "Jackie Kerouac? 12 women's road books". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved Sep 12, 2014. ... Here are 12 road trip stories written by women, starring women, both fictional and real. ... family driving from the South to California ...
^"Mary Miller & Sarah Cornwell". Journal Sentinel (Austin, Texas). Jan 23, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved Sep 12, 2014. ... Mary Miller's Last Days of California is one of our favorite new books of 2013. ...
^LAURIE MUCHNICK (Jan 31, 2014). "Are We There Yet?: Mary Miller's 'Last Days of California'". The New York Times. Retrieved Sep 12, 2014. ... Mary Miller's terrific first novel, "The Last Days of California,"... Miller crawls so deep into Jess's skin her own voice almost disappears.
^JOSH COOK (February 1, 2014). "Review: 'The Last Days of California,' by Mary Miller". Star Tribune. Retrieved Sep 12, 2014. ... There's plenty here: family secrets, sexual firsts, teen pregnancy. But more than a few scenes feel amiss, with Miller skirting the tensions. ...
