Expect a Miracle

Dan Wakefield, whose earlier books include Starting Over and Returning, gathers a varied collection of accounts describing miracles in ordinary lives. Among the episodes: a pianist and a quarterback each recover from injuries to their hands and arms, a well-known writer senses that something good is coming and soon meets the woman he will marry, and a Russian painter held by the Germans during World War II turns his artistic skill toward survival and escape.

Wakefield's contributors include Michael Crichton, Rabbi Harold Kushner, actress Kathy Baker, and singer Judy Collins. The pieces are meant for readers who feel swamped by daily demands, physical limitations, mental strain, or addiction, and who want to regain control through faith, prayer, and the conviction that the impossible can happen.

The book's central idea is that everything counts. A word, an encounter, or a passing thought may appear insignificant when it happens, yet any of them could turn out to be the start of a miracle.