Author | Mitch Albom |
---|---|
Cover artist | Phil Rose |
Genre | Religious fiction, Philosophical fiction |
Publisher | Hyperion |
Publication date | 2003 |
Media type | |
Pages | 194 |
ISBN | 978-0-7868-6871-1 |
OCLC | 52619795 |
LC Class | PS3601.L335 |
The Five People You Meet In Heaven is a 2003 novel by Mitch Albom. It follows the life and death of a ride mechanic named Eddie (inspired by Albom's uncle [1] ), who is killed in an amusement park accident and sent to heaven, where he encounters five people who had a significant impact on him while he was alive. It was published by Hyperion and remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for 95 weeks.
On his 83rd birthday, amusement park ride mechanic Eddie is killed in an accident when a ride breaks down. During the accident, he makes a desperate attempt to save a little girl's life.
Eddie arrives in Heaven, where he meets "the Blue Man." The Blue Man explains that Eddie is about to journey through Heaven's five levels, meeting someone who has had a significant impact upon his life or someone on whom his life had a significant impact. Eddie asks why the Blue Man is his first person, and he informs Eddie that, when Eddie was very young, he caused the car accident that killed him. From this, Eddie learns his first lesson: there are no random events in life and all individuals and experiences are connected in some way.
Eddie meets his former captain from the army, who reminds Eddie of their time together as prisoners of war in a forced labor camp in the Philippines. Their group burned the camp during their escape and Eddie, while running away, remembers seeing a shadow move in one of the huts. The Captain confesses that he shot Eddie in the leg to prevent Eddie from chasing the shadow into the fire. This saved Eddie's life despite leaving him with a lifelong severe limp. Eddie then learns how the Captain died: he stepped on a land mine that would have killed all the men had he not set it off.
Eddie finds himself outside a diner, where he sees his father through a window. A well-dressed woman named Ruby appears and introduces herself to him. Ruby explains that Ruby Pier was named after her by her husband Emile, who built it in tribute to her. Ruby shows Eddie the true cause of his father's death, which is different from what he had always believed. She tells Eddie that he needs to forgive his father.
Eddie meets his late wife, Marguerite. They remember their wedding, and Marguerite teaches Eddie that love is never lost in death; it just moves on and takes a different form.
Eddie awakens to see children playing along with a riverbed. A young Filipina girl named Tala comes up to him. Tala reveals that she was the little girl from the hut that Eddie set on fire. Distraught, Eddie breaks down both cursing and asking God "why?" Tala hands him a stone and asks him to "wash" her like the other children in the river are doing to one another. Eddie is puzzled, but dips the stone in the water and starts to scrape off the injuries he had inflicted on her. Tala's wounds begin to clear until she is freed of all the scars. Eddie asks Tala if she knows if he was able to save the little girl before his death. Tala tells him he did manage to push her out of the way. In this way, Tala explains, he also managed to atone every day for her unnecessary death.
In the end, it shows that Eddie's Heaven is the Stardust Band Shell, where he met Marguerite.
Janet Maslin, writing in TheNew York Times, gave a cynical review, calling the story "a string of reassuring verities." While she thought the story manipulative, she acknowledged its power to comfort people. [1] Publishers Weekly 's review was far more positive, comparing the book favorably to A Christmas Carol and saying it would be "cherished by a vast readership." [2]
A made-for-television film adaptation of the novel, produced by Hallmark Entertainment, directed by Lloyd Kramer, and filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, premiered on ABC in 2004. Jon Voight starred as Eddie, with Ellen Burstyn as Ruby and Jeff Daniels as the Blue Man. TheNew York Times gave the film a negative review, calling it too slow-paced and overly sentimental. The review suggested the film was only made due to the success of Tuesdays With Morrie , another film based on an Albom novel. [3]
Funny Girl is a musical with score by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, and book by Isobel Lennart, that first opened on Broadway in 1964. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
Mitchell David Albom is an American author, journalist, and musician. As of 2021, he has sold 40 million books worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing inspirational stories and themes—a preeminent early one being Tuesdays with Morrie—themes that now weave their way through his books, plays, and films and stage plays.
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson is a 1997 memoir by American author Mitch Albom. The book is about a series of visits Albom made to his former Brandeis University sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Albom's subsequent memoir has been widely reviewed and has received critical attention after features by The Boston Globe and Nightline about Schwartz's dying.
Morey's Piers & Beachfront Waterparks is a seaside amusement park located on The Wildwoods' boardwalk in Wildwood and North Wildwood, New Jersey. The park has been family owned and operated since 1969 and was run by second generation Morey Brothers, Will and Jack. Morey's Piers has more than 100 rides and attractions across its three amusement piers and two beachfront waterparks.
Stuck in the Suburbs is a 2004 American comedy film that premiered as a Disney Channel Original Movie. It was released on July 16, 2004, and stars Danielle Panabaker as Brittany Aarons and Brenda Song as Natasha Kwon-Schwartz. Brittany, a regular middle school student in the suburbs, accidentally exchanges cell phones with pop singer Jordan Cahill. This was one of the first television films by Disney to be accompanied by its own soundtrack. The film gathered 3.7 million viewers which made the film the most-watched telecast in its time period in the kids 6–11 and 9–14 demographics. The film's soundtrack entered the U.S. Billboard 200 and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio charts.
Hachette Books, formerly Hyperion Books, is a general-interest book imprint of the Perseus Books Group, which is a division of Hachette Book Group and ultimately a part of Lagardère Group. Established in 1990, Hachette publishes general-interest fiction and non-fiction books for adults. A former subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, it was originally named after Hyperion Avenue, the location of Walt Disney Studios prior to 1939. Hachette took over a 1,000 book backlist when Hyperion was purchased from Disney in 2013 with 250 bestselling novels, including Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven.
For One More Day is a 2006 philosophical novel by Mitch Albom. Like his previous works, it features mortality as a central theme. The book tells the story of a troubled man and his mother, and explores how people might use the opportunity to spend a day with a lost relative.
Carlo Wolff is a prolific freelance journalist and author who has written for publications including The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Plain Dealer, and The Christian Science Monitor. He specializes in music criticism, book reviews and feature articles about popular culture, travel, and business. Among his former outlets: Goldmine and Billboard.
Funny Girl is a 1968 American biographical-musical film directed by William Wyler and written by Isobel Lennart, adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is loosely based on the life and career of comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
For One More Day is a 2007 television film adaptation of the Mitch Albom's 2006 novel of the same name, which was a New York Times Best Seller. Produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, the film stars Michael Imperioli and Ellen Burstyn as leads. Director Lloyd Kramer also directed the TV film version of Albom's 2003 novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Michael Imperioli who also appeared in the previous film, had his son, Vadim, play his younger version in this film.
Fish Hooky is a 1933 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 120th Our Gang short to be released.
Have a Little Faith is a 2009 non-fiction book by Mitch Albom, author of previous works that include Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. It is based on two separate sets of conversations that took place between the author and members of the clergy: a rabbi in a relatively affluent section of New Jersey, and a Protestant minister in a very poor section of Detroit, Michigan.
Gillian's Wonderland Pier is a soon-to-be-defunct historic amusement park founded in 1929 by David Gillian, who first came to Ocean City in 1914. It is located near the beginning of the commercial boardwalk on 6th street. Gillians is generally considered to be an institution of Ocean City, with grand openings and pre-season sales for the location historically having drawn crowds multiple blocks long, and employs many local youths during the summer, and in more recent years, many Eastern European workers.
Coney Island has been featured in novels, films, television shows, cartoons, and theatrical plays.
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is a novel by American author and journalist Mitch Albom. Released on November 10, 2015, publisher HarperCollins printed 700,000 hardcover initial copies. The novel's protagonist, a guitarist, is introduced at his own funeral. Narrated by Music, the novel alternates between Frankie's life and stories told about him by influential people in music during his funeral.