The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Unabridged) | 
 enlarge | Author: Mitch Albom
Publisher: audible.com
Category: Book
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $13.12
You Save: $11.86 (47%)
Rating:  1615 reviews
Sales Rank: 6487633
Media: Audio Download
ASIN: B0006OLAXQ
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Amazon.com Review
Part melodrama and part parable, Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven weaves together three stories, all told about the same man: 83-year-old Eddie, the head maintenance person at Ruby Point Amusement Park. As the novel opens, readers are told that Eddie, unsuspecting, is only minutes away from death as he goes about his typical business at the park. Albom then traces Eddie's world through his tragic final moments, his funeral, and the ensuing days as friends clean out his apartment and adjust to life without him. In alternating sections, Albom flashes back to Eddie's birthdays, telling his life story as a kind of progress report over candles and cake each year. And in the third and last thread of the novel, Albom follows Eddie into heaven where the maintenance man sequentially encounters five pivotal figures from his life (a la A Christmas Carol). Each person has been waiting for him in heaven, and, as Albom reveals, each life (and death) was woven into Eddie's own in ways he never suspected. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie understands the meaning of his own life even as his arrival brings closure to theirs. Albom takes a big risk with the novel; such a story can easily veer into the saccharine and preachy, and this one does in moments. But, for the most part, Albom's telling remains poignant and is occasionally profound. Even with its flaws, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a small, pure, and simple book that will find good company on a shelf next to It's A Wonderful Life. --Patrick O'Kelley
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 who will be your five people? December 5, 2008
W. R. Judson (nashville, TN USA)
when the movie previewed on tv one night my family and i all set down to watch it. i thought it was the greatest movie ever. then for a reading project my brother had to read the book, when he was finished i had to see if it was anything like the book. after reading the book i came to one conclusion, the book was better than the movie!!! this book makes you think about, if heaven is really like this, who would be your five people? my family and i all sat down and talked about this one night and it makes you think about life and who all you affect with out even knowing that you are affecting anyone. this is a great book to read if you want to think about life for a while
Fantastic book, matches my personal philosophy December 2, 2008
J. Ortiz (Honolulu, HI United States)
This book is not preachy don't worry, that was my biggest fear in initially reading it. It turns out that it is a good story with insight into a concept of life that of connections that is really interesting
Sappy emotionalism but difficult to put down November 25, 2008
Stratiotes Doxha Theon (Richmond, Missouri)
Despite myself I could not put it down. It is the message of the holiday favorite, It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition). Only this telling delves deeper into many philosophical questions concerning life. It follows a man who has died and must pass through 5 people (as everybody does in heaven) who explain the meaning to his life. What seemed pointless and a waste to him is revealed to be poetic justice with rich meaning. Yes, it is sappy and emotional. But the story is gripping and the writing style is an enjoyable and rich telling. An emotional but worthwhile tale in lovely pros. Very well done.
 Reads like a bad children's book November 24, 2008
K. Challa
It has the feeling of a children's book with lame lessons, except that children's books are more interesting and have better characters.
 movie is better November 24, 2008
B. Johnson (Las Vegas, NV USA)
Overall, I loved the plot of this book. Whether you're religious or not, it really makes you think. Unfortunately, I found the movie to be far better than the book, which is something I normally never ever say. But, the way Mitch Albom writes really bothered me. I can't put my finger on it just yet, but I really didn't enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed the movie.
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