"If Dostoevsky is right in making the observation that 'beauty will save the world,' then James Bryan Smith has provided us with an exquisite exposition of what this means and how beauty is revealed in the God story. And he does so without in any way downplaying the deep fragmentation of our world; to the contrary, Smith demonstrates that it is precisely against the backdrop of this deep pain that we see and know the beauty of God and thus the salvation of God."

—Gordon T. Smith, president, Ambrose University, Calgary, Alberta, author of Called to Be Saints

"Currently, James Bryan Smith is the best author I know for blending essential spiritual insight with fruitful spiritual practices. In The Magnificent Story, Jim is characteristic: by giving us spiritual practices that help us abandon our shriveled life stories, he helps us to sync our lives up to the good, beautiful, and true story of God—and become human as God intended."

—Todd Hunter, Anglican bishop, Churches for the Sake of Others

"What story do you believe you are living in? No question is more important—or more frequently ignored, to the detriment of humanity. The vast totality of our afflictions—in the face of our deepest longings—is in no small part a reflection of the stories in which we believe we live, witting or not: stories that are the antitheses of goodness, beauty, and truth. But thanks be to God, with The Magnificent Story, James Bryan Smith has drawn back the curtain on the real cosmic drama in which we find ourselves. And if ever the plots of the stories of our lives have needed this book, that time is now. If you hunger for goodness, beauty, and truth, and moreover, if they have felt out of your story's reach, do not despair. For within these pages lies the chronicle your life has been waiting to read, to hear, to live."

—Curt Thompson, author of Anatomy of the Soul and The Soul of Shame