Tuesdays With Morrie : An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson
Product Description
Featured on “Oprah” on October 9. Maybe it was a grandparent or a teacher. Someone older who understood you when you were young and searching, who helped you see the world as a more profound place, and gave you advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly 20 years ago. The two lost touch. When he rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life, Mitch visited Morrie ever Tuesday, just like in the old days. This is the magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift to the world. November 1997 publication date. 3 cassettes. .Amazon.com Review
No one but Mitch Albom could have read Tuesdays with Morrie so effectively. As the author of this inspirational true story, Albom uses verbal inflection in exactly the right places to evoke humor, empathy, and emotion. It’s an honest reading, and the underlying timbre of private memory pushes it past mere recitation to pure storytelling.
The titular Morrie was Morrie Schwartz, Albom’s university professor 20 years before the events being narrated. An accidental viewing of an interview with Morrie on Nightline led Albom to become reunited with his old teacher, friend, and “coach” at a time when Albom, a successful sportswriter, was struggling to define dissatisfactions with his own life and career. Morrie, on the other hand, after a rich life filled with friends, family, teaching, and music, was dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease, a crippling illness that diminished his activities daily. Albom was one of hundreds of former students and acquaintances who traveled great distances to visit Morrie in the final months of his life.
The 14 Tuesday visits that followed their reunion took Albom–and will take listeners with him–on a journey of reawakening to life’s best rewards. The story is told in a journalistic style that never crosses into pathos. That a professional writer can write well is not surprising, but Albom also reads well, with clear enunciation and a talent for mimicry. Another reader might have interpreted the professor’s aphorisms as droll humor or wrung a wrong note at an inappropriate moment, making the story a maudlin tearjerker; instead it is read for what it is, a tribute to a remarkable teacher. (Running time: four hours, three cassettes) –Brenda Pittsley
Tuesdays With Morrie : An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson
Anonymous said,
Wrote on March 18, 2010 @ 11:37 pm
This book is a best seller and continues to stay on the best seller list because in my opinion most people down deep understand the truth of Morrie’s basic philosophy that people living exclusively in a materialistic world generally do so to replace what they feel is missing from their lives even though they may not be consciously aware, at the moment, of what precisely is “missing.” What is missing ? I found part of this answer in a general sense in this book. I found even more precise and concrete answers in the book An Encounter With A Prophet. I highly recommend both of these books to anyone seeking to find out why they seem to continue to feel something is missing from life.
Rating: 5 / 5
Levi Wallach said,
Wrote on March 19, 2010 @ 1:02 am
I read this book after hearing so many good things about it and the TV movie based on it. It’s a very quick read – I finished it in two days, which is unheard of for me! The book is basically about Morrie Schwartz, a history professor at Brandeis University, who has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and is dying. A former student, Mitch Albom, who had become a fairly well known sports writer, heard about his teacher from an interview with Ted Koppel on Nightline and decided to pay a visit. This visit soon turned into regular meetings – on Tuesdays – since at the time there was a strike at Albom’s newspaper. Albom plots Morrie’s declining health, which is quite depressing, but at the same time imparts Morrie’s wisdom. One definitely can get a sense of what the important things in life are from someone who has little left, but Morrie is particularly eloquent and seems to carry an upbeat dignity to the end. Sometimes it takes the wisdom of a dying man to jog us enough to realize that human relationships and health are more important than all the gadgets, modern conveniences, pressures to get ahead professionally and monetarily combined. This is just the main point that Morrie starts “teaching” Albom and getting through to someone who, like many of us from time to time, have gotten obsessed with the real trivialities of life. The only complaint I have about this book is that it wasn’t longer. I wanted to take more time and savor the wisdom and sweetness of this old man, but, like his illness’s swiftness, reading the book seemed to go by all too quickly.
Rating: 4 / 5
J. Hoopes said,
Wrote on March 19, 2010 @ 3:14 am
This book has had more impact on my life than anything else I’ve ever read, by far. It’s a reminder to appreciate the simple, little things in life. It’s a reminder that when you’re dead, the things you’ve accumulated and the things you’ve done will disappear. What will remain is the ways that you’ve affected or touched other people.
This is a simple book with simple messages.
Live fully and in the moment. Treat others with respect, kindness, love, and dignity. Seek joy.
However, these messages are easily lost given the constantly increasing pressures we all face. This book is a guide to a way that you can live your life where you’ll be able to look back at the end and feel peace and contentment.
I’ve given copies of this book to many people that I know. I encourage you to read this book and do so with an open mind and heart.
Rating: 5 / 5
Deanna said,
Wrote on March 19, 2010 @ 4:17 am
The summer after my high school graduation I was wondering why I felt as though something was missing. My view of life had become that of Mitch’s, fast paced. In my rush to go on my senior trip and off to college I had forgotten the true meaning of family and friendship. Before leaving for school a dear friend gave me this book. As I began reading, I could not stop. Tuesdays With Morrie portrays the true meaning of life in such clarity that made me want to reach out to people (family and friends) of whom I had not been as close to as I would have liked. This book taught me to open my heart to people I hold dear and to consider dear my ‘enemies’ as well. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, you truly only need to love and to allow yourself to be loved. When ever I feel as though I’m losing touch with the importance of my life, I begin to read this book. Immediately after putting the book down I alway want to call my parents. They are the people closest to me and they are also the people who have made me and will continue to make me who I am yet to become (like Morrie and his father, mother, and step-mother). I do however find it a shame that Morrie did infact die, yet he made his death our inspiration. The lessons taught in this book are beautiful and I hope his book continues to guide me in my trying times. Allow it to guide you through your life, and pass on the book to a loved one.
Rating: 5 / 5
Anonymous said,
Wrote on March 19, 2010 @ 4:49 am
Three novels have moved me to tears this year–East of the Mountains, The Triumph & Glory, and this wonderful book, Tuesdays with Morrie. It is about facing life’s difficulties with honesty and courage, friendship, and farewell. Ten stars and a grateful thank you to the author.
Rating: 5 / 5