FOR ONE MORE DAY: A BOOK REVIEW

cmllalxs
 TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………..2

SUMMARY OF FOR ONE MORE

DAY……………………………………………………..2

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES…………………………………………………………4

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………..4

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 FOR ONE MORE DAY: A BOOK REVIEW

INTRODUCTION:

For one more day is a novel written by an American author named Mitch Albom. The
plot of the book is about a story of a family. The book is centered on Charley “Chick”
Benetto is a broken man, a former professional baseball player who loses his job at the
beginning of the story. He got divorced, left his family, and worst is he did not get an
invitation letter for his daughter’s wedding which led to the decision of giving up on his life.
He wanted to go back to his hometown to end his life where everything began. As he tried to
kill himself, an unexpected thing happens. His mother who died eight years ago comes back
to life as if nothing happened. As this happens, he spends one more day with his mother. 

Mitchel David Albom or simply Mitch Albom is an American author, born on May
23, 1958, in New Jersey, USA. before he releases Tuesdays with Morrie, his first novel, he
already had a career as a journalist and a sports writer for The Fort Lauderdale News and Sun
Sentinel in Florida. He was the host of a daily talk show on WJR radio and appears on ESPN
Sports Reporters and Sports Center. Aside from the sports books that he has written, some of
his famous novels are For One More Day (2006), Have a Little Faith: A True Story (2009),
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2003), and The Time Keeper (2012). 

I chose to review Mitch Albom’s novel For One More Day because of the story plot
and interesting theme it has. It gives emphasis to mortality but entails it in a rather magical
story. The main question it has for the readers is what would you do if you were given the
chance to meet your long-lost loved one?

SUMMARY OF FOR ONE MORE DAY:

The main character of the story Charlie “Chick” Benetto is a man who lost
everything. From his job, his career, and his family. The story started with an unknown
character recognized as a random person narrating the story. The narrator was on the way to
the airport. As the narrator saw some kids as he was taking coffee across a field. There the
narrator met Chick. As the anonymous man walks towards Chick, he asked directly the
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anonymous guy if they wanted to know why he attempted to kill himself. This is where Chick
already began to tell the narrator about his story from the day his mother died. He wasn’t
there when it happened. He cried at her funeral and he got drunk then passed out as he fell
even deeper in his state of grief.

A year after his mother’s death, he got financially broke. As a saleswoman deceived
him, he got drunk. This habit got himself fired on his two sales jobs. This led him to drinking
more and more. As this continuous through the years, inevitably, hi marriage collapsed. His
family left him and he was forced to live in an apartment all by himself. As this kept
happening and happening again, he then remembered his mother as she was there for him all
those times but that was already a long time ago. He was not invited to his daughter’s
wedding. He became more desperate and kept him thinking that for every critical moments,
he was always not there. As he looks at an envelope, there was no return address, which made
him question the thought if his daughter actually wants him to come. 

Feeling disappointed, Chick prepares to end it all, by killing himself. One night, he
drove his car, heading towards his old family home. He brought a gun with him. As he got
near his hometown, his car collided with a truck. He survived the collision. Then he
continued to walk to his hometown. As he saw a water tower he used to climb when he was a
child, he climbed the tower once again. He climbed the tower as he intended to do another
attempt to end his life, by jumping off from the tower. He survived the fall, but something
miraculously happened. He saw his mother who died eight years earlier. 

The story continued with the encounter of Chick and his mother at their old house.
They both stood in disbelief how come they were both there in an unbelievable setup yet
magical moment. But deep inside, Chick somehow wanted to meet his mother again. He was
grateful for the chance of “one more day” with his mother. She scold Chick, talked too much,
got busy with her friends, her whole behaviour was still the same as she used to be in the
past. 

His experience with his mother was interrupted with a strange voice which cannot be
heard by anyone else aside from him. Chick had been near death state, and the strange voice
was actually an ambulance that brought him back to life. 

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 The story finished with an epilogue about Chick. He died five years after his suicide
attempts. He died at the age of 58 and his cause of death was a student stroke. In the end, it
was revealed that the narrator that Chick encountered was his daughter, Maria Benetto.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES:

There are various interesting themes that can be learned from the novel. Regret is a
strong theme that can be derived from the novel. It points out the not so close relationship
between the families. There were examples of regret experienced by Chick. Aside from the
theme, this also had strong and greatly built characters. From the protagonist named Charlie
“Chick” Benetto to his mother Posey Benetto, everything was greatly established.   

But though this book has its strengths, it also has its own weaknesses. Is it noticeable
that this novel is greatly similar with The Five People You Meet in Heaven, both have the
same theme seeking for forgiveness But this novel is found by looking closely at the setting
of both of the novel.

CONCLUSION:

For One More Day is a novel that tells about the importance of forgiveness. The main
character, a man named Charlie Benetto, but ended up encountering his dead mother. With
such magical experience, he learns that to forgive and to be forgiving is important.

There were strengths and weaknesses that are noticeable on the story. This is also
comparable to another novel made by Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven,
which has he same theme of seeking for forgiveness but The Five People You Meet in
Heaven was just able to tell the story in a more compelling manner. 

But over-all, I can greatly say that this novel of Albom is timely and a must-read not
just for those book lovers but for everyone. This is a novel that tells a story of regret, real-life
situations, sprinkled with a bit of magic and love.

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