Rating: 
Summary: A delightful, moving fable.
Review: Mitch Albom as taken the experiences of a man's seemingly useless life, and unwrapped a story that is a gift to each of us.
His use of the language, and ability to evoke real emotions from his character AND his reader at the same time is truly amazing.
I found this to be a fairly quick read, and read it in one 4 hour sitting. The Author tugs at hearstrings, provokes thought and smiles as the main character sometimes fumbles his way through a timeless heaven, discovering that in the end, his life had more meaning than he could ever imagine.Mitch Albom is going to solidify his status as a national treasure with this book.
Give this book to everyone on your Christmas list!
Rating: 
Summary: God-awful
Review: Bad writing and worse thinking. Sentimental, insipid, insulting, cliched. So the point of heaven is to make you feel good about yourself? Like, that's the important thing, that Eddie have strong self-esteem? What about God? What about the soul? What about other people? Nope, this is a book where Eddie dies and goes to heaven for a New Age pep talk. Could appeal only to people who think that how they FEEL is the most important thing in the universe.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story that you'll want to share with everybody
Review: When I finished the last page of Mitch Albom's TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, I knew I had to share the book with as many people as I could. I proceeded to buy 41 copies, inscribe them all to my friends and family members, hand them out, mail them --- whatever I had to do to spread the word. The book was that moving, in my opinion. So I was eagerly looking forward to THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN and I am happy to report that Albom did not disappoint me. He is a first-rate storyteller, and THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN is an imaginative, creative tale in the tradition of the best fairy tales or folklore. Eddie is a maintenance man who keeps the rides safe at the Ruby Pier amusement park. His 83rd birthday seems like any other day --- he inspects the rides, watches the people, makes pipe cleaner animals for the children. However on this day he dies unexpectedly, trying to rescue a young girl in harm's way. Eddie wakes up in heaven --- but not to the "paradise garden, a place where (we) can float on clouds and laze in rivers and mountains," not the idyllic place that heaven has been described as throughout time. Eddie awakens to a series of introductions --- or reintroductions --- to five people whom he had met during his life, either in passing or at length. They each carry answers to the whys and hows of Eddie's life. With each meeting he relives in part that time of his life, but now the gaps are filled in. For maybe the first time he sees what REALLY happened. "There are five people you meet in heaven," the Blue Man, Eddie's first encounter, explains. "Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth." All five are of course deceased, and they all impart knowledge of Eddie's life and life in general. For instance, the Blue Man asks, "Why do people gather when others die," and his explanation is at the very core of the meaning of Albom's book: "It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed lives are changed." It is insights like these that leave the reader asking, "What does Mitch Albom know that we don't?" What he knows is that we all seek answers. We look for meaning behind the experiences in our lives. More often than not, we never get the answers but we continue --- we plod on, happy or unhappy, fulfilled or unfulfilled, pain-free or in pain. We live. Albom doesn't pretend to offer us the answers, but he does offer us an almost Taoist interpretation of life. It is. It just is. The answers may never be revealed. And do they need to be? THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN is a beautiful story. Eddie is human and likable for his foibles, fears and faults. The writing is often lyrical and fable-like. And though the book is fiction, behind it lies Albom's lifelong love of his uncle, which lends a tenderness and intimacy to the tale on par with TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE. You'll want to share this with your friends, family, acquaintances, and even those nameless people you pass on the street who may have played a larger role in your life than you ever could have imagined. --- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara
Rating: 
Summary: Someday Mitch Albom May Be a Great Writer
Review: I wanted so badly to be moved by this book. In my humble opinion, I think I see brilliance forming in Mitch Albom's writing. However, this book is a stop on his path towards being a great writer. The format and structure of the book is very creative. If you aspire to write, I suggest you read it for the inspiration to approach your stories more creatively. If you desire deep inspiration, I'm not sure you will find it here.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartwarming
Review: Good book. Mitch is very innovative in his writing skills. Catchy, could not put the book down. Best part was meeting the fourth person, Eddie's wife... his love for her, his longing to stay with her, the comfort he felt in her presence. At last finding the truth about, and the reason for his nightmares (meeting the fifth person) all those years, his regret for staying behind at Ruby Pier. While other books out there try to explain 'the reason' for our existence, none I've found to be more engaging than this. Good work. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good book -- should get better after re-reads
Review: Having never read any of Mitch Albom's other work, I was very anxious to read this book because the premise sounded very promising. I like to think of this book as a journey into the unknown. Nobody here really knows what heaven is like, and its very existence is even questioned by many. Albom gives us a glimpse of what his heaven is like by allowing us to follow Eddie, the main character, on his journey through heaven. Before Eddie's death, he was an old man who felt he had done nothing with his life. He was plagued with the questions that a lot of us inquire of ourselves. What have I done in my life? Has my life been worth living? What have I got to show for it? Sadly, when Eddie died, he felt that his life was a miserable existence with no meaning. Enter Mitch Albom's heaven. It's an experience. It's not really like what television, movies, or your own mind have portrayed it to be. There aren't people lounging around in togas sipping fine wine and having a jolly old time however they please. Albom envisions heaven as an experience at looking back at one's own life and how one has unknowingly affected and been affected by others--sometimes strangers. In heaven, Eddie meets 5 different people who have affected his life in some important manner, though he doesn't necessarily realize it until the story unfolds. To be quite frank, I was slightly disappointed in this book. Given the premise, I was really hoping for an uplifting, somewhat spiritual book that would give me a warm fuzzy after I had finished reading it. It didn't. However, I honestly believe that if I let the theme of the book play around in my head for awhile, I'll appreciate the book more. Moreoever, I look forward to reading the book again in the future (maybe in a year or so) because I think it will get better in future re-reads. I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A poor effort with little truth esposed by Mr. Albom
Review: Mr. Albom's first work, Tuesdays with Morrie, was a substantially much better book. Why?
Because it was honest, straight from the gut writing, albiet not from Mr. Albom, but from Morrie.
This book it is clearly evident that Albom is "faking" his way trying to espose meaning and purpose to those who never really had any and never will.
Utterly Pedantic.
Rating:
Summary: I'd love heaven to be like this........
Review: This book was a wonderful surprise to a dreary day. It has lessons to give and heartfelt endearments that remind us how we are all on a journey, a path of some kind, together. Even if you don't believe in heaven, who can deny that fact!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Effort
Review: To ask people to pay upwards of 20 dollars for a book that tries to mask its lack of depth in the all too common and vague vein of spirituality is outrageous!
A shot of Jack Daniels is more inspirational...
Rating:
Summary: (4 1/2) Mitch Albom As The Modern Day John Donne
Review: The reviews to date validate my reaction to this book - that you will probably love it or hate it. Forty-five people have written a review, almost exactly divided between high praise and complete scorn. Twenty-two five star ratings, a single four star rating, a single three star rating, six did not indicate complete disdain with a two star rating, and the remaining fifteen rated it one star. I rated it five stars for three reasons, first I really enjoyed it - both the content and the style. Second, I thought that the author's technique and its implementation were interesting. Third, I concluded that the author accomplished his apparent goals exceptionally well. The goal of this review is to provide enough information for potential readers of Albom's allegory to decide whether it is the sort of book that they might enjoy and from which they might derive insight; THIS DEFINITELY IS NOT A BOOK FOR EVERYONE. This is literally and nominally the story of Eddie, an 83 year old maintenance man who we meet on the birthday on which he dies in a tragic accident at Ruby Pier, the amusement park where he spent most of his life and where his father had worked before him. But it is also an allegory about what it means to be a human being and our search for meaning in our lives. The story literally starts at "The End", with the first section being a description of the moments before Eddie's death , which occurs as he tries to save a little girl who is about to be crushed by a falling cart that has come lose from one of the rides. The remainder of the book consists of flashbacks to various birthdays as mileposts in Eddie's life and a few brief intrusions of the present as life proceeds for Eddie's coworker Dominguez, but it primarily involves the journey which Eddie begins as he enters heaven. This journey involves THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN, each of whom has played a meaningful role in his life (perhaps unbeknownst to him), and each of whom has chosen to wait for him to join them in heaven in order to help him understand his earthly path. The experience of each person contains a lesson for Eddie, and the cumulative impact is to help him put his life in a context that is far different from that which he perceived during his day to day existence. As one of them tells him, heaven is so you can finally understand the past, "to make sense of your yesterdays". The story is well told, logically consistent, and arrives at a very powerful and unexpected conclusion. It contains moments of humor but is primarily bittersweet, since Eddie views himself as having lived a life of missed opportunities, lost love, and little consequence. One point of the story is that what appear to be simple situations often mask profound truths and unexpected complexity. The author manages to combine the same elements of seeming simplicity and complexity within this story. The simple language employed is yet perfectly evocative of the possibilities of heaven juxtaposed against the often mundane realities of life. Indeed, many of the diverse aspects of life are touched upon including the effect of war not only on the participants but on the noncombatants as well, parental love and expectations for their children and the meaning of friendship and the role of duty in our lives. Thus if you are interested in an allegorical tale utilizing Eddie Maintenance (the name on his work shirt and adopted by the kids who enjoyed the rides at Ruby Pier) as the means to think about life's meaning, our relationship to God, and ourrole here on Earth, I highly recommend this book. My advice would be to savor it, rather than rush through it. It is only 196 small pages of relatively large type and can be read at a single sitting, but that would not do it justice. I found that I actually enjoyed it more because I had to occasionally put it away for a while to get other tasks accomplished; then I could come back and get reacquainted with Eddie as he proceeded on his journey. Of course, one advantage of the book being so short is that if you do not enjoy it as much as I did you haven't wasted much time. Tucker Andersen
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