Jonathan Miles was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, but Miles ran away when he was 17, moving to Oxford, Mississippi, eventually attending the University of Mississippi and taking a writing class with Barry Hannah.
His debut novel, “Dear American Airlines,” was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2008. The novel, written in the form of a complaint letter to the titular airline, was reviewed by Richard Russo in the New York Times Book Review. Finding work as a newspaper reporter and aspiring jazz musician, Miles met novelist Larry Brown.
The two became friends, and while Miles didn"t graduate "Ole Mission", Brown taught and encouraged Miles to write: "lieutenant was an astonishing education.
Some people go to the Iowa Writer"s Workshop. I had Larry."
While Miles never studied journalism in college, his work soon found publication in a local literary magazine, the Oxford American, and he continued to contribute essays and critique for several years.
Miles claims he was fired by the paper years later for writing an obituary about a subject who had admitted regularly providing bootlegged liquor to noted Oxford resident William Faulkner and correctly reporting the fact. Fortunately, Miles"s writing caught the eye of Esquire editor Will Blythe, who published an account Miles wrote of an ingenious prison escape he"d investigated while writing for the Oxford paper.
Miles soon developed a reputation as a keen observer of Mississippi culture, selling essays to Food & Wine, Men"s Journal and The New York Times Magazine.
He credits his early literary voice to his time in Oxford, Mississippi, but when Men"s Journal offered him an annual contract Miles was already driving a moving van toward New York City in search of such an opportunity. Miles"s novel Dear American Airlines has received the following honors:
New York Times Book Review 100 notable books of 2008 (one of seven debut novels to be included);
Wall Street Journal dozen "most memorable" books of 2008;
Los Angeles Times favorite books of 2008
Amazon.ca top 50 editors" picks for 2008 (#27). And
Authorised Version Club favorite books of 2008.
