I should say that I’ve never read any of Mitch Albom’s books before. I’m pretty sure my mom told me about “Tuesdays with Morrie” but I never got around to reading it. So when I was asked to review “Have a Little Faith” – I thought it would be interesting to give it a shot. Besides, with positive reviews by Bishop T.D. Jakes, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Cokie Roberts and of course, Senator Bob Dole – how could it not be worth reading?
Here is the book’s description on its website:
Albom’s first nonfiction book since Tuesdays with Morrie, Have A Little Faith begins with an unusual request: an 82-year-old rabbi from Albom’s old hometown asks him to deliver his eulogy.
Feeling unworthy, Albom insists on understanding the man better, which throws him back into a world of faith he’d left years ago. Meanwhile, closer to his current home, Albom becomes involved with a Detroit pastor – a reformed drug dealer and convict – who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in its roof.
Moving between their worlds, Christian and Jewish, African-American and white, impoverished and well-to-do, Mitch observes how these very different men employ faith similarly in fighting for survival: the older, suburban rabbi, embracing it as death approaches; the younger, inner-city pastor relying on it to keep himself and his church afloat.
Since this is actually the first Mitch Albom book I’ve read – I really can’t compare it to his others. However, it was a quick read and it’d probably fall into a “theology-lite” type of book. Being that it was a non-fiction book, I appreciated the memoir-esque nature of it. One of my favorite book genres is probably the “spiritual memoir” and I appreciated the look into the spiritual lives of both Henry (the Christian pastor) and Reb (Albom’s rabbi).
I don’t know that the book is particularly brilliant or challenging on many points, but it does address some important themes, from death to spirituality to the life as spiritual journey. Albom writes in a style that is easy enough to follow and pulls you in to get to know these characters, these people, he’s writing about.
If you really liked Albom’s other books – I’m guessing that you’ll probably like this one as well. And…I did finish it. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have finished it. So it was an easy enough read and enjoyable enough for me to stay interested. Sorry – that doesn’t sound like the most glowing of reviews – but it could be that this book just didn’t do “it” for me – whatever “it” is.
Related posts:
- It’s Really All About God: A Review
- Take This Bread: A Review
- Tribal Church: A Review
- Dallas Willard’s Knowing Christ Today: A Review
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Really mailed that one in, huh? Whatever “that” was.
Not entirely sure what you mean bro.
What spiritual memoir books have you enjoyed?
I enjoyed your review of Mitch Albom’s forthcoming book. I have been anticipating its release at the end of September and have already placed a pre-order for it. Now I’m glad I did!
It was interesting to read something from someone who hasn’t read any of his previous books. I, on the other hand, have read them all and am a fan. I’m a fan of his column, too. It always manages to choke me up – even when its about sports, which I don’t fully understand. :-)
As someone who has questioned her own spirituality over the past few years, it seems like it would be a very interesting read. I’ve always been of the mind that “we’re all in this together – Christian, Jewish, Islam, Buddhist – so why not respect each other’s religions and try to all get along?”
Just MHO. Looking forward to reading this book.
Back again. Just wanted to let you – and your readers know – that you can get book excerpts for HAVE A LITTLE FAITH on Mitch Albom’s website at http://www.mitchalbom.com.
There are also really cool discussions based on the book, a video and all sorts of other info.
Can’t wait for the book to come out so we can all discuss it!