Books I Loathed discussion

Mitch Albom is a total hack. Back when he had a sports column, he wrote this sappy piece about a couple of former Michigan State basketball players coming back to watch their alma mater play in a big game, and his whole point was that they exemplify the spirit of college sports or some nonsense like that. The problem was that those players didn't attend the game. Not only was he caught lying, but he was exposed for an unabashedly schmaltzy weiner who couldn't resist sentimental writing even when its not remotely true.

yeah, a good flogging is in order. We need more floggings around here. :)

Thank God! I thought I was the only one who thought that Tuesdays was trite. There wasn't really anything revelatory or insightful in the book.

Very much the same can be said of 'For One More Day.' Trite and schmaltzy seems to be his beat.

I read Tuesdays with Morrie voluntarily, but I was tricked by my mother-in-law into reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven. She went on and on about how great it was. I can't decide which of these two books was worse.

I do love Tuesdays with Morrie, but I could do without 5 People and One More Day.

There was a time a few years ago when I almost felt like a bad person because I hadn't read "Tuesdays..." It was one of those books like the Da Vinci Code (don't even get me STARTED on that!) that "everyone" has read and you feel like you maybe just want to read it so you can defend it or criticize it and not just keep on having it recommended to you over and over...

I just enjoyed the theme of it. Just thought it was a good book.

Dustin, love the use of schmaltzy! I've read Tuesdays and didn't hate it (that's hard for me to say about any book actually) but I did find it overly sentimental and certainly not worth the hype. Part of my problem with his writing also stems from his work in sports, namely his weekly appearance on the Sports Reporters. He comes off as so condescending I want to reach through the screen and smack him (not a big Lupica fan either). I think this affected the way I viewed his fiction.

Oh me too - so trite!

I have not read Tuesdays, and do not plan to. I did read 5 ppl and For one more.... and kinda liked them both. Both were well written, read very quickly and had interesting takes on death.

Nothing to write home about or go preaching to people as MUST READS, but worth the money i dropped them.

I read Tuesdays with Morrie and The 5 People who meet in Heaven. And I really liked them both. Yeah they are sappy, but sometims you just need a light read like his books. And they are good. Though 5 people is my favorite. They were both worth the time and money I spent on them.

Ugh. Put him to the lash.

I think they are relatively harmless books, and hit the target audience they are intended for. Note that they are written at about a 4th grade reading level, like romance novels. 'nuff said.

Me too.

I remember reading "Five people etc etc" and thinking - "what was the point of that?" Hmmm... perhaps I expected to much...

Five people was the first book my husband (ex) ever recommended to me. Say. No. More.

I am so relieved. I thought I was the only one who didn't appreciate it!

Tuesdays with Morrie . . . trite, poorly written, and frankly the advice he got from Morrie? If you're over the age of 20, most of it was fairly obvious.

All I remember from Tuesdays is that ALS is a terrible disease. Otherwise, I wouldn't read any of his other books.

I couldn't even FINISH Tuesdays with Morrie–the book was absolutely terrible. To begin with, Morrie's idea that "work" has nothing to do with a meaningful life is just ludicrous. He makes it seem as though having a family and friends and being a teacher are the only ways to have any meaning in your life. He doesn't realise that lawyers, doctors, writers, they all lead meaningful lives because they are GOOD at their jobs (from working hard), and so they are positively impacting many lives of our society, who are as much of our brothers and sisters than anyone. The idea that work can not be meaningful or significant is ridiculous. While I do agree in the idea that this culture places too much emphasis on material, money, and work, his views are impractical and false.