Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of For One More Day

For One More Day
GeniusJen avatar reviewed on + 5322 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5


Mitch Albom is an author who has a lot to live up to. After such great hits as TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE and THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVNE, I opened my copy of FOR ONE MORE DAY wondering if he'd be able to pull off another winner. The answer, wholeheartedly, is yes.

Albom pays tribute to mothers with the story of Charley "Chick" Benetto, who remembers clearly the words his father told him as a young boy: "You can be a mama's boy or a daddy's boy. But you can't be both."

For most of his life, Chick worked towards being a daddy's boy. Even when his father's love was elusive, it was the one thing he always strove to earn. It wasn't until later that Chick learned, as everyone does, that love not given freely can never be earned, no matter how hard we try.

When Chick's downward spiral leads to an attempted suicide, he's granted the one thing he's always wished for since his mother's death eight years previously--the chance to spend one more day with a mother who always loved him unconditionally, even when he didn't deserve it.

FOR ONE MORE DAY is the story of Chick, but even more so the story of his mother, Posey, a women who sacrificed more, and withstood more heartache, than her children ever knew. And as Chick realizes that he'd made the wrong decision, all those years ago, in becoming a daddy's boy, he's also given the chance to forgive himself, and, ultimately, become a better person.

This is an emotional and heartfelt read, every bit as good as Mr. Albom's previous releases. In recent articles I've read negative comments about the author being "too sentimental" in his writings; all I can say to that is that when sentimentality starts being a crime, we're all in trouble.