Book Review: The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Downloaded on my Kindle for $10. Another of the 100 books the BBC says I should read before I die. Maybe so I'll know what to expect after I kick. A pleasant enough fast read, but basically a giant Hallmark card with the message, "Everyone's life is connected to everybody else's, so be nice while you're alive, or you'll meet someone in heaven you were rude to on Earth and it will be awkward for a few minutes. But then you'll apologize and go on to meet somebody whose toe you stepped on while getting off the subway." That's oversimplifying this simplistic book, but you get the idea.

An ordinary Joe named Eddie buys it on his 80th birthday. When he gets to the hereafter, he meets 5 people who explain his "ordinary" life to him. And like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, he realizes he was important to many people. Cue the harps and violins.

Why the BBC chose this as an essential tome I don't quite get. It is sweet and sentimental, somewhat overwritten in parts with Albom hitting you over the head with metaphors comparing love to rain. I get that it's comforting to think of the Great Beyond as a counseling session, but not a great revelation or a great book.