Rating: 
Summary: Adult Fantasy
Review: I couldn't take Mitch Ablom's previous book seriously after Morrie went at great length about how great it was raising his kids and ol' tin-ear then asked him if he'd do it again. My wife and I roared at that, but we both kind of liked this book, having (need I say) received it as a gift and succumbed to the temptation to read it and perhaps find ourselves mistaken in our initial assessment of the author. I'm not sure we've come around, but this was a pleasant enough book to read, with an epigram I'll always remember and one of the sweetest moments imaginable near the end. What more can you ask from a book?Mitch works very hard. James Joyce and Immanuel Kant work hard at their writing, too, but with them it seems appropriate to the material. Here it does not. When I call this Adult Fantasy, I don't mean Teen Fantasy (battles, scantily clad women), or Science Fiction. Call it Meaning-of-Life Fantasy. It's a tricky genre, these slim volumes. The paragon for me is Og Mandino's The Greatest Salesman in the World. He makes it look easy! Yet even he fails in most of his other attempts. (I think I've read them all, and Mission: Success! is the only other real gem.) Mandino's masterpiece is about positive attitude, and it is legendary in the world of sales. The sentence I love in Mitch's book is: "Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them." Another aphorism isn't bad: "Eddie admitted that some of his life he'd spent hiding from God, and the rest of the time he thought he went unnoticed." This one I would call "average": "Strangers are family you have yet to come to know." But there are a lot of real klunkers: "The waters of their love fell again from above and soaked them as surely as the sea that gathered at their feet." Well, it's a high-wire act, isn't it. If you crave literature about human emotions, try Women in Love or anything else by D.H. Lawrence. If you'd like to juice up your outlook and put some meaning in your life without waiting until you get to heaven and meet your five people, read The Greatest Salesman in the World. But I'm happy I read this book too.
Rating: 
Summary: wonderful!
Review: This book was great. I picked it up, began reading, and couldn't put it down. I was immediately hooked after the very first paragraph. This book will have you eager to learn what happens next. It's very different from anything I have ever read before, and I found the book to be very thought-provoking. I can't wait to read more of Mitch Albom's work.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You Mr. Albom!
Review: My Mom passed away a few months ago - so the title of this book caught my attention (and curiosity) right away. The book is an easy, entertaining read...as well as a comfort to anyone who has lost a loved one. I laughed and cried and found myself hoping that Mr. Albom has the inside scoop on what really happens when we reach the end of our lives!
Rating:
Summary: An Enchanting Story
Review: A great story on the meaning of life and how our lives can have a profound impact on other's lives, without us even knowing it. I loved this book!
Rating:
Summary: Imaginative and Profound
Review: . . . "each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one." This is the final sentence in this very imaginative book that touches on the very questions that ask myself often regarding my own life. I have often contemplated why I am here on earth and what have I contributed to humanity. In this beautiful story I have found a real starting point to examine these very questions.It is a book I want to read over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Short and sweet
Review: I found the book to be very well written and in some senses very poetic. I had to re-read it just to go through it again and hi-lite all the beautifully written sentences I find myself re-reading over and over. The story has so many "connections" where a minor detail will be thrown out there lightly, but then later in the book it has a purpose and a meaning, and everything "connects" at that instance. Its a very touching realization.
Rating:
Summary: An Emotional Experience
Review: By now you know the story so I won't go in to it again; however, I do want to share my experience. This book really got to my heart and soul. The first time I read it, I burst out crying at the end; not from the story but rather from the emotions it touched. The second time I read it, I cried through the entire book! The phrasing was just so beautiful that it made me cry. An example of Albom's beautiful words is as follows: "Love, like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive." You will not be sorry if you buy this book. It is one you will cherish and read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERPIECE TIME
Review: Beautiful, meaingful, incredible writing style, magnificent attention to detail (some of which had to be preceeded by exhaustive research), and so much more. Your ability to "hook" a reader at the very beginning of each chapter & paragraph is marvelous. You made me not ever want to put the book down. I was properly teased so I had to read on; and I was never disappointed. Everything you write is only enhanced by your apparent laborous task of describing either the individual(s), and/or scene. As a non-fiction writer for adults and children, and more importantly, as private tutor to novice writers, your
book is a marvelous teaching tool that young writers can learn from.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: What an incredibly intriguing story. Mitch Albom is captivating as he tells the story of Eddie meeting people in heaven. If you have ever wondered about the hereafter, and who hasn't, this book will leave you at ease and give encouragement that all things do have a purpose. A must-read!
Rating:
Summary: Nothing new under the sun
Review: Like many reviewers, I read this book in one sitting. While I found the story sweet and touching, I didn't learn anything "new" from the read. My faith teaches that we'll meet our ancestors in heaven. To me, that's a given. The author uses "real life" settings in heaven to tell his story. Frankly, I like the streets of gold theory, but what really gives me hope for an everlasting life is the prospect of being surrounded by those who have gone before. I've always assumed that life's greatest questions will be answered after death. If it only takes 5 people to do the job, that's cool. If you've never contemplated the world after this one, this book might be a good first introductory read. For me, it held nothing new.
| 
