The Five People You Meet in Heaven

December 1, 2003
This life-affirming fable ironically opens at the end of the life of a seemingly ordinary man. Known as "Eddie Maintenance" to those he works with at Ruby Pier, Eddie led what he saw as a disappointing life working as head of maintenance at a seaside amusement park. Upon his death, he learns that heaven is a place to make sense of his time on earth and that he will meet five people from his life who will help him understand its greatest lessons. Accompanied at times by music that sounds psychedelic rather than heavenly, reader Singer conveys this uplifting story in an earnest manner. However, the soft-spoken intonations he employs for women and the gruff but bashful voices he uses for men add an extra dose of sweetener to this already sentimental tale, as does Singer's plaintive rendition of Eddie and his wife Marguerite's song, "You made me love you." Still, those who turn to this audio book for Albom's (Tuesdays with Morrie
) musings on the meaning of life will not be disappointed. Simultaneous release with the Hyperion hardcover (Forecasts, Aug. 18).

Starred review from August 18, 2003
"At the time of his death, Eddie was an old man with a barrel chest and a torso as squat as a soup can," writes Albom, author of the bestselling phenomenon Tuesdays with Morrie, in a brief first novel that is going to make a huge impact on many hearts and minds. Wearing a work shirt with a patch on the chest that reads "Eddie" over "Maintenance," limping around with a cane thanks to an old war injury, Eddie was the kind of guy everybody, including Eddie himself, tended to write off as one of life's minor characters, a gruff bit of background color. He spent most of his life maintaining the rides at Ruby Pier, a seaside amusement park, greasing tracks and tightening bolts and listening for strange sounds, "keeping them safe." The children who visited the pier were drawn to Eddie "like cold hands to a fire." Yet Eddie believed that he lived a "nothing" life—gone nowhere he "wasn't shipped to with a rifle," doing work that "required no more brains than washing a dish."On his 83rd birthday, however, Eddie dies trying to save a little girl. He wakes up in heaven, where a succession of five people are waiting to show him the true meaning and value of his life. One by one, these mostly unexpected characters remind him that we all live in a vast web of interconnection with other lives; that all our stories overlap; that acts of sacrifice seemingly small or fruitless do affect others; and that loyalty and love matter to a degree we can never fathom.Simply told, sentimental and profoundly true, this is a contemporary American fable that will be cherished by a vast readership. Bringing into the spotlight the anonymous Eddies of the world, the men and women who get lost in our cultural obsession with fame and fortune, this slim tale, like Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, reminds us of what really matters here on earth, of what our lives are given to us for. Backed by a $500,000 marketing campaign that includes a 30-city author tour, and boosted by the good will that millions will feel when they see Albom's name on the cover, this wonderful title should grace national fiction bestseller lists for a long time. Simultaneous Hyperion Audiobook, BOMC main selection.