For One More Day

By Mitch Albom

Book Overview

From the author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie , a new novel that millions of fans have been waiting for. "Every family is a ghost story . . ." Mitch Albom mesmerized readers around the world with his number one New York Times bestsellers, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie . Now he returns with a beautiful, haunting novel about the family we love and the chances we miss. For One More Day is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that covers a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one? As a child, Charley "Chick" Benetto was told by his father, "You can be a mama's boy or a daddy's boy, but you can't be both." So he chooses his father, only to see the man disappear when Charley is on the verge of adolescence. Decades later, Charley is a broken man. His life has been crumbled by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits bottom after discovering his only daughter has shut him out of her wedding. And he decides to take his own life. He makes a midnight ride to his small hometown, with plans to do himself in. But upon failing even to do that, he staggers back to his old house, only to make an astonishing discovery. His mother--who died eight years earlier--is still living there, and welcomes him home as if nothing ever happened. What follows is the one "ordinary" day so many of us yearn for, a chance to make good with a lost parent, to explain the family secrets, and to seek forgiveness. Somewhere between this life and the next, Charley learns the astonishing things he never knew about his mother and her sacrifices. And he tries, with her tender guidance, to put the crumbled pieces of his life back together. Through Albom's inspiring characters and masterful storytelling, readers will newly appreciate those whom they love--and may have thought they'd lost--in their own lives. For One More Day is a book for anyone in a family, and will be cherished by Albom's millions of fans worldwide.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401303277
• ISBN13: 9781401303273
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Hyperion
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 5.0"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

A story.

Interesting story...makes you think. I wonder if it really is like that?

Such a beautiful book

I love this book the wisdom and knowledge is absolutely incredible. It teaches you how to live a simple life

Must read

I think because I lost my mother and father both fairly early on in my life , this book sucked me in the moment I start . I read it in about 3hours, hanging on every word. I am not an emotional person however, this book got me . This was one of the best books I’ve read to date .

Touching story about a mother's love

I've read "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "Five People You Meet in Heaven", so when I found out that Mitch Albom had a new book, I had to buy it. I just finished it - only took 2 days. As with the other 2 books, it's an easy read, but mostly it's a compelling story. As a person who lost a parent at a relatively young age, the stories and images in "For One More Day" really touched me on so many levels. It was heart-warming as well as heart-breaking. I guess that's the story of so many families. I highly recommend this book. If it doesn't make you want to kiss your mother and buy her some flowers, I don't know what will!

For One More Day, story of a lifetime

I haven't finished this book, I just bought it yesterday, but I am already half way through. This is one of the best stories I have ever read. It really made me think about my relationship with my mother, and how much I will miss her when she "goes home". It also reminded me of the sacrifices my mother has made for me and my siblings, and how we don't appreciate the life she gave up, the stuggles she has lived thru and how really she gave her life for us. Why do we leave so many things left unsaid? Chick has struggled all his life, and when it's almost too late he finally begins to really "see" his mother. So much pain and heartache could have been avoided in his life and in all of ours if we just took the time.

One of 2006's most inspiring reads

Albom, who previously grabbed us by our hearts in "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", does it again in "For One More Day". Masterfully playing with time (moving back and forth between the story's present time and the character's past), surprising the reader along the way and tactfully relating to emotions most of us are bound to experience at some point in our lives, he tells the tale of Charley Benetto, a retired baseball player left to rot outside the sport of his dreams, and his one-day reunion with his mom... who had passed away years before. The book doesn't score as high as "Tuesdays with Morrie", arguably Albom's best, but it does match his accomplishment with "The Five People..." by forcing us to contemplate our lives from the standpoint of forks in the road, what ifs, the choices we make in life and the consequences they carry along. In doing so Albom earns the book a solid five stars and my personal recommendation as one of 2006's most inspiring reads.

Albom's Best Yet

Unlike some other reviewers here, I actually think this is Albom's best yet - and that's saying something as his previous two (The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie) were best-sellers. Here Albom is more grounded, perhaps because the story really happened, is well-constructed, and, while fantastic, is not so abstract. Instead, one gets almost practical advice for living and much good food for thought. I bought this book yesterday and have already read it - and I don't do that often! It's extremely well-written and thoughtfully composed. It's the kind of book I will now have to buy several copies of to give as gifts - and it's the kind of book that you can give as a gift and it will be sincerely appreciated. Congrats to Mitch Albom for another winner.