Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson is an eloquent memoir told with unbridled honesty.
When Mitch Albom hears that his favorite college professor, Morrie Schwartz, is dying from ALS, he feels compelled to visit his old friend. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal, progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. After twenty years, Mitch isn’t entirely comfortable reconnecting with Morrie, or spending time with someone with a fatal illness. However, at graduation he had promised to keep in touch, but hadn’t done so. Now Mitch is given a second chance.
Mitch flies a commercial airline every Tuesday for the next several months to visit his old friend. He finds Morrie already quite incapacitated and as the weeks, then months, grind on, his condition relentlessly worsens. But as time passes, Mitch is enriched by his friend’s wisdom—he receives valuable lessons in how to live. Mitch finds he can bare his soul to Morrie; they can laugh and joke. Mitch makes himself useful by massaging Morrie’s deteriorating body. Their shared jokes make Morrie’s days brighter, their recollection of the “old days” enriches their rekindled relationship.
I read Tuesdays with Morrie many years ago. This book is the 20th Anniversary Edition and has, in addition to the original version, information about how the book has affected so many readers, and how proceeds of the book has benefited many people around the world. Morrie’s message, “giving is living” is a lasting philosophy, a legacy to make our world a better place.
Thank you, Mary, for writing about one of my favorite books that I had read several years ago. Mitch Albom has a simple yet intense way of writing that stays with the reader long after reading the book.
I agree. As I mentioned in the review, I had read this several years ago. Bruce recently gave me a copy, not knowing I’d already read it. But actually, I got even more out of the book than the first time through.