Online Book Club Review:"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is only 196 pages -- brief pages -- long and can be easily finished in one sitting. The message of Mitch Albom's book stays with you a bit longer. This book is about the life, death and afterlife of Eddie, an 83-year-old widowed war veteran, who has seen his life slide downhill from youthful dreams into a routine monotony of working as a maintenance man at an amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, he dies in an effort to save a young girl from a malfunctioning ride. He awakes in a version of Heaven he never expected; in this afterlife, Eddie meets five people whose lives have intertwined with his in profound and not always obvious ways. To give details about the five people would give too much away, so I'll only say that I enjoyed Five People That You Meet in Heaven on two levels. Eddie's life story -- full of coincidences, joy, sorrow, sadness and love -- was entertaining in and of itself. The deeper story -- about the meaning of life and the meaning of others in our life -- was expected, but yet welcomed. What did you think?