Product Description

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN is a wonderfully moving fable that addresses the meaning of life, and life after death, in the poignant way that made TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE such an astonishing book. The novel's protagonist is an elderly amusement park maintenance worker named Eddie who, while operating a ride called the 'Free Fall', dies while trying to save a young girl who gets in the way of a falling cart that hurtles to earth. Eddie goes to heaven, where he meets five people who were unexpectedly instrumental in some way in his life. While each guide takes him through heaven, Eddie learns a little bit more about what his time on earth meant, what he was supposed to have learned, and what his true purpose on earth was. Throughout there are dramatic flashbacks where we see scenes from his troubled childhood, his years in the army in the Philippines jungle, and with his first and only love, his wife Marguerite. THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN is the perfect book to follow TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE. Its compellingly affecting themes and lyrical writing will fascinate Mitch Albom's huge readership.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35388 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 228 pages

Review
A first novel by a famous American sports columnist (author of Tuesday with Morrie, a bestselling non-fiction title). This one is a fable which discusses the meaning of life and death. Eddie is a fairground operator, who checks the safety of the various rides. He is 'an old man with a barrel chest and a torso as squat as a soup can', and dies while trying to save a young girl from a falling cart. Eddie goes to heaven - a most unexpected place - and meets five people who were instrumental in some way in his life. He learns not only about his life but also about what his time on earth meant. It is simple, unaffected and written with great feeling.

This is a well-intentioned novel about a man who dies and goes to heaven, finding there a meaning to his life. For this fable Albom has chosen an unlikely character, an old and lonely man who, like his father before him, services rides in an amusement park. Because Eddie has the word 'maintenance' on his uniform, to his work mates and regular customers he has become just that - Eddie Maintenance. Genial and indulgent to the children, he finds little else to cheer him and when the accident that he has always dreaded happens he asks everyone he meets in the afterlife if he had at least managed to save the small girl who was playing under the roller coaster. He has to wait a long time for the answer, as the five people waiting for him have their own agenda. Eddie recognizes some of them and is familiar with the place they inhabit but others are strangers to him even if their lives have touched. There is a message in this book, indeed several messages. Before he can find peace Eddie must learn to listen and absorb what those chosen to welcome him have to teach. The lessons are sincere and carefully explained; they are illustrated like parables and are repeatedly summed up to make sure that they are understood. All the sentiments fit into religious teaching; for example, the captain who died in the war just after saving Eddies's life explains that sacrifice is a part of life, a good and necessary part. For the reader who fears whimsy there are more down-to-earth pages, scenes from Eddie's childhood and family life, passages which show how his death affects those left to take over his repair shop. But it's far too bland, a bit like a thought for the day aimed at those who believe in God and life after death. If there were Sunday Schools for adults this would be the prize. (Kirkus UK)

Publishing News
'Simple, unaffected and written with great feeling'

About the Author
Mitch Albom writes for the Detroit Free Press and has been voted America's No. 1 sports columnist ten times by the Associated Press Sports Editors. A former professional musician, he hosts a daily radio show on WJR in Detroit.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous, Fabulous Book !
I just can't praise this book enough, it's an absolute treasure of a story. Nobody knows what happens to us at the moment we die or what the process is after death (if indeed there is any process) and this book is just one take on what might happen. Please don't think that this is a depressing book about death as it's far from that. What it does to the reader is make you wonder that if there is a grain of truth or possibility of something similar to this happening, who will be the five (or more, or less) people that you will meet on your way to heaven (or wherever it is we go). It has you thinking whose lives you may have crossed, helped or played a part in, and who will be waiting for you and who will you be waiting for. I loved this book so much I gave it to my husband to read and he said it actually brought tears to his eyes it was so touching and tender. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone - it's a gem of a book.

The most wonderful little book! 194 pages to make you think!!
In my 41 years on this planet, this is the book I shall traesure and read again and again. It's only 194 pages, I put it down after each person he met to think about the lesson to be learned. Everyone should read this and i believe our World would be a better place to live!!! Please buy!!

Gave up reading half way through
As I didn't manage to finish this book, perhaps I don't qualify to give this a rating. However a book should keep you captivated throughout and this one did not. It is absolute twaddle written for people who want to believe that we will be rewarded for our suffering in this world, by going on to a better place. Believe it if you will, I am going to enjoy this life instead.