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Summary: The Five People you Meet in Heaven
Review: Very easy to read and keep your interest. I would recommend this book to anyone that is curious about looking at heaven from a different angle.
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Summary: a must read...
Review: As one who has dealt with the loss of several close relatives in recent months, this book was a great help to me. I enjoyed the ease with which one can read this book as the story line is well presented and easy to follow. You really get a good sense of Eddie and know that his life, even though he may not have thought so, mattered. Everyone matters! But this book just goes to show that you never know who you touch and how you affect other's lives....this is a great book and I am glad I read it. It helped me to deal with some great sadness at losing my relatives.
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Summary: The ULTIMATE Entitlement program!
Review: I read through the book and found it to be predictable and amusing in a strained kind of way. Why strained? Because it gave me further insight into the gullibility of people who want something far too badly, whereas any rational consideration of an alternative simply scares the hell out of them. Ahh Heaven, the ULTIMATE Entitlement program. What motivates Jesus to pay for it all? Believe me when I tell you it's gonna cost him,... big time. If you want to heap infinite riches and pleasures on someone then you're likely to get very little return on your investment, even if you are god. Don't you suppose that he'd want a little more than belief and praise for all these good digs? After all, it's not like you'd have "earned" this "ripe for the pick'n" winning lotto ticket of the sky. Cotton candy, corns dogs, orgies, Pie! Mmmmm, heaven! (Halleluiah now). Just don't think that the heaven police (and there has to be one) won't kick you right out of the deluxe apartment in the sky and into the ole "lake 'o fire" if you cross over the line for some of the things you're bound to be tempted to do. You're only human. So be good, for goodness sake, cause Saint Nick's coming. After all, "you get it your way", every time, all the time, for all time, in heaven, right up until you're uncovered (outed?) for being more like the bulk of humanity that didn't qualify for the program. People have such a hunger not to die, this is true. What else is true? Probably not your fantasies. Which is actually why they call them,... fantasies. So what's the afterlife like? Well it may not be just the way the Jesus Industry sells it. Here's a hint. You've probably already experienced it. Remember that exceptionally vast stretch of time before you were born? No? Well, it could be a lot like that. Zip. Or, perhaps it could be something like your essence, a drop plopped into the ocean of all universal essence, which exceeds any religious imaginings by countless magnitudes of oceans, including all essences the religious would find alien and unacceptable on account of it being,.. alien, as (I hate to break it to you) your wee world is not the center of the universe, let alone your modest galaxy. Sorry to rain on your irrational and unstoppable craving for Epcot in the sky. No doubt you'd have expected perfect weather ALL the time too. Well, Happy Reality!
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Summary: Who knew lightening could strike twice?
Review: I was fortunate enough to hear Mitch Albom at a reading in Iowa City not too long ago. I was curious to hear this award-winning sportswriter who, more than coincidentally, also wrote one of my favorite books, "Tuesdays with Morrie." All I can say is it was a great evening. Mitch regaled the 300 or so people with his experience of sleeping in O'Hare airport while coming to Iowa. He is a gifted, natural story-teller. Suffice it to say Mitch has done it again. He has written another heart-reaching book that should be on everyone's must read list. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" speaks to all of us with humor and truth. It tells the story of Eddie, a man who doesn't feel he's had a good life. I'm sure you'll recognize the "Eddie" in you while the story unfolds through the five people he meets who help him see his life as extraordinary. My wife was sick in bed with the flu when we read it together aloud. We both agreed it was the best sick day either of us had spent. I have since bought 5 copies and sent them to family and friends. It is that good!
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Summary: A Book to Entertain and Make You Think
Review: I bought this book because the title intrigued me. I recommend it because it was not only entertaining, it made me think. This book may challenge you to rethink what you belive about life after death - and before it. What have you done in your life that has been important to someone, that has touched someone, or hurt someone - without you even being aware. How has that shaped your life, or theirs?
When it is all said and done, our perception of our life and it's worth may be very different from the five people we meet. If you think you have "heaven" all figured out - don't read this book. You may have to change your mind.
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Summary: SANCTIMONIOUS DRECK
Review: We'll never know, but I believe that if Mitch Albom had not just written the appealing "Tuesdays with Morrie", this book either would not have been deemed worthy of publishing or would have sunk like a stone. Why do I say that? Let me count the ways: 1) It's BORING. The main character does not engage my interest. Even his love story and his war experiences are unexciting. 2) The writing is BAD. Physical descriptions seem arbitrary and superimposed on the story. The language is clunky. The sentences don't flow. I have nothing against sports writers--I read the sports pages first every day--but this fish is way out of water. 3) The message of the book is the OPPOSITE OF INSPIRING. It encourages people not to change, not to stretch or grow. It seeks to reassure people that even if they live out their status quo, it's all right. They can reconcile in the afterlife their self-defeating choices, their despair, their sense of defeat, their surrender of life. The intellectul thrust of the book, like some anti-Nike, is: JUST DON'T DO IT! That is, don't worry, it's okay, it'll all work out. There's no need to struggle or work on yourself or change. It's okay to stay miserable. All I can say to that is: UGH! The success of this book tells me that a lot of people appreciate the consolation it offers for self-defeating life choices. I may be out of step with that current. So be it. Unlike Albom, my hope for humankind is that we all do not go softly into the night.
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Summary: A Beautiful Book!
Review: The magic to Mitch Albom's approach is that he touches upon something that we all think about - What happens after we die? No one has definitively been able to answer the question and what Albom has done is to take the comforting reply to that question (we go to heaven), and add A Christmas Carol story-twist to it. Heaven isn't necessarily filled with rolling hills and bon-bons. It's about making sense out of your life and bringing it to its natural closure. This is just a wonderful book! Two other quick Amazon purchases I also recommend are: Tuesdays with Morrie (by the same author), The Losers' Club by Richard Perez. All these books have made think more deeply about what's important in life! Now that's art!
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Summary: Do I really make a difference?
Review: This book is exciting to read and helps the reader understand how a human being, irregardless of occupation or social status, can influence the outcome of other people's lives. This book is particularly important during the holiday season when so many people are depressed and find little meaning in life. I can tell you this book offers insights and wisdom from a book we have all heard of - the bible.
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Summary: Don't believe all the hype!
Review: This was truly the absolute, most disappointing book I've ever read. I was looking for an interesting read, and browsed through Amazon's Top Sellers list, and this book came well recommended. IT WAS AN UTTER WASTE OF MY TIME AND MONEY. In the first few pages, the main character dies. The remainder of the book is an incredibly boring reminiscence of the man's life as he encounters a series of 5 people affected from his life in "heaven". The only reason I even continued to read this nostalgic, 2nd-grade-reading-level book was because I hoped for an ending that would give the 2 hours I wasted some meaning. All I got was an ending that, at least, put me out of my misery.
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Summary: Good Little Quick Read
Review: I thought this book was very imaginative. I don't think by any means this was the best ever though. Good read for traveling or if you have an afternoon caught with nothing to do.
Go ahead, read it!
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