For One More Day by Mitch Albom - Book Review

For One More Day by Mitch Albom is the story of a man who gets the chance to spend one more day with his mother, who died 8 years earlier. In the vein of Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven, For One More Day takes readers to a place between life and death in a story of redemption and one man's struggle to deal with his ghosts. For One More Day is more of a novella than a fully developed novel. It is well-written, but not especially memorable.

For One More Day starts with a young sports reporter approaching former baseball player Chick Benetto. Chick's first words are, "Let me guess. You want to know why I tried to kill myself." From there the story of Chick's life is told in his voice, and the reader hears it as if he or she is the sports reporter sitting there listening to him.

When Chick tries to commit suicide, he wakes up in a world between life and death where he gets to spend one more day with his mother, who dies 8 years earlier. Chick was supposed to be with his mother the day she died, and he still harbors guilt over the fact that he wasn't.

The story moves back and forth between memories of Chick's childhood and adolescence, and the action taking place between Chick and his dead mother. Ultimately, it is a story of redemption and making peace with one's past. It is a story of love, family, mistakes and forgiveness.

If all this sounds familiar, that's probably because you have read Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven. In fact, For One More Day is very similar to Albom's previous novella. Same sort of characters, same sort of supernatural yet familiar setting, same "It's a Wonderful Life" type move from regret to peace with one's life. Albom does not break new ground here. That may be good or bad, depending on how much you like his previous work.

I would recommend For One More Day to anyone looking for a quick, inspirational read; however, it is not something I am likely to remember or reread.