I'm bad. I judged a book by it's cover.
The book is Mitch Albom's "For One More Day". It follows roughly the same format as the first two books I have read by Albom - slim athletic shape, wearing mostly red lettering atop a parchment colored jacket. The familiarity of the visual makes it easy to pick out the author's books even in the Barnes and Noble forest of books. All have been quick easy reads except for the part where your heartstrings are tugged.
The story revolves around Charles Benetto. He has made more than a few bad decisions in life and the consequences become so much of a burden that he decides to take his own life. After failing to reach his old town and causing an accident in the process, he walks toward a familiar landmark from his childhood - a water tower. He climbs up the tower and jumps off. At this point he is in a coma for roughly a day. The reader is slowly given hints as to what is happening as the story unfolds. During the 24 hour period, Charley sees his mother who has died many years ago. She greets him as if not a day has passed between them. Charley does not comprehend what is happening and tries to get some answers, but his mother sets the pace of the encounter and answers some more important questions first. In that sense the scenario is quite different from what I remember of the movie A.I., where the robot boy David is given a chance to live one more day with his human mother who passed away a long time ago. During that time he chooses the day's activities and directs the conversations. Although that sounds more upbeat, I assure you the tone of that scene is quite the opposite.
I am not going to summarize the whole story. There are plenty of reviews. If you are interested in the book - give it a read. It will provoke thoughts which most people probably shy away from. What if you were able to spend one more day with a lost loved one? Who would you choose? How would you spend that day and what would you say to them? Once you answer those questions, a little wisdom and inspiration will follow.
Overall the book is written and edited well enough. I've seen worse! I don't know how I started reading Albom, the subject matter is not at the top of my list. It may well be due to the fact that I enjoyed the first book I ever read by Albom "The Five People You Meet In Heaven". It is my favorite of the three. "For One More Day" is a close second, followed by "Tuesdays with Morrie". I will probably read "Have a Little Faith" sometime in the near future.
