The Five People You Meet In Heaven By Mitch Albom

For my book critique I chose to read The Five People you Meet in Heaven by: Mitch Albom. This book was published by Hyperion Books in 2003. There are one-hundred and ninety-six pages in total, and it cost twelve dollars to purchase this book. (Albom, 2003) Mitch Albom is an author, playwright, and screenwriter who has currently written seven books overall (including the bestseller: Tuesdays with Morrie). He was born and grew up in Passaic, New Jersey in 1958 to Rhoda and Ira Albom. Mitch earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He also went on to earn his Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, followed by an MBA from Columbia University’s

The book begins at Ruby Pier, an amusement park where Eddie miraculously works as a maintenance man despite a major injury that he received during World War II. On Eddie’s birthday, one of the rides at Ruby Pier starts to malfunction due to a damaged cable line and the ride stops abruptly. Thankfully, the passengers were able to get off the ride safely and the Ruby Pier workers were able to lower the ride for inspection. While this is occurring, one of the carts detaches due to the damaged cable line and falls towards a little girl who is located beneath the ride. Eddie valiantly rushes towards the girl that is about to be crushed by the amusement park ride and tries to save her, ultimately sacrificing himself for the little girl in the

The book goes into detail about Eddie’s deployment to the Philippines in WW2 and ends up with Eddie getting shot in the leg after trying to save a child in a burning village that his platoon had personally lit. Due to this, he learns his second lesson in heaven– sacrifice. After the warzone, Eddie finds himself in a mountain range where he meets his third person, Ruby. Ruby was named after the pier that Eddie worked for and shows him a horrendous scene from his parents past that ends up with his father dying from pneumonia. Eddie is able to let go of the built up anger that he had for his father that surrounded his early