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Summary and Reviews of Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays With Morrie

An Old Man, A Young Man & The Last Great Lesson

by Mitch Albom
  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (138):
  • First Published:
  • Sep 1, 1997, 192 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2002, 208 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

'A deeply moving account of courage and wisdom, shared by an inveterate mentor looking into the multitextured face of his own death. There is much to be learned by sitting in on this final class.'

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.

Chapter One
The Curriculum

The last class of my old professor's life took place once a week in his house, by a window in the study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves. The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The subject was The Meaning of Life. It was taught from experience.

No grades were given, but there were oral exams each week. You were expected to respond to questions, and you were expected to pose questions of your own. You were also required to perform physical tasks now and then, such as lifting the professor's head to a comfortable spot on the pillow or placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Kissing him good-bye earned you extra credit.

No books were required, yet many topics were covered, including love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and, finally, death. The last lecture was brief, only a few words.

A funeral was held in lieu of graduation.

Although no final exam was given, you ...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

FOR DISCUSSION

  1. Did your opinion about Mitch change as book went on? In what way?
     
  2. Who do you think got more out of their Tuesday meetings, Mitch or Morrie? In what ways? How do you think each would answer this question?
     
  3. Do you think Mitch would have come back to Morrie's house the second time if he hadn't been semi-idled by the newspaper strike?
     
  4. Discuss Morrie's criticisms of Mitch throughout the book. Do you think Morrie should have been tougher on him? Easier?
     
  5. Do you think Mitch would have listened if Morrie hadn't been dying? Does impending death automatically make one's voice able to penetrate where it couldn't before?
     

Let's Talk ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Kirkus Reviews
Award-winning sportswriter Albom was a student at Brandeis University, some two decades ago, of sociologist Morrie Schwartz. Here Albom recounts how, recently, as the old man was dying, he renewed his warm relationship with his revered mentor. This is the vivid record of the teacher's battle with muscle-wasting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. The dying man, largely because of his life-affirming attitude toward his death-dealing illness, became a sort of thanatopic guru, and was the subject of three Ted Koppel interviews on Nightline. That was how the author first learned of Morrie's condition. Albom well fulfilled the age-old obligation to visit the sick. He calls his weekly visits to his teacher his last class, and the present book a term paper. The subject The Meaning of Life. Unfortunately, but surely not surprisingly, those relying on this text will not actually learn The Meaning of Life here. Albom does not present a full transcript of the regular Tuesday talks. Rather, he expands a little on the professor's aphorisms, which are, to be sure, unassailable. Love is the only rational act, Morrie said. Love each other or perish, he warned, quoting Auden. Albom learned well the teaching that death ends a life, not a relationship. The love between the old man and the younger one is manifest. This book, small and easily digested, stopping just short of the maudlin and the mawkish, is on the whole sincere, sentimental, and skillful. (The substantial costs of Morrie's last illness, Albom tells us, were partly defrayed by the publisher's advance). Place it under the heading Inspirational. Death, said Morrie, is as natural as life. It's part of the deal we made. If that is so (and it's not a notion quickly gainsaid), this book could well have been called The Art of the Deal.

Publishers Weekly
An emotionally rich book and a deeply affecting memorial to a wise mentor,

Author Blurb Jon Kabat-Zinn, coauthor of Everyday Blessings and Wherever You Go, There You Are
A deeply moving account of courage and wisdom, shared by an inveterate mentor looking into the multitextured face of his own death. There is much to be learned by sitting in on this final class.

Author Blurb Robert Bly, author of Iron John
This is a sweet book of a man's love for his mentor. It has a stubborn honesty that nourishes the living.

Reader Reviews

Saransh Gautam

Awesome
A beautiful book by Mitch Albom.... The reader feels many emotions while reading this book, ranging from happiness to sadness, and more than likely, will be wiping away tears at the end. It makes the reader think about their own life and ponder ...   Read More
Praveen

Tuesdays With Morrie
Good Book
Christina Grace

Tuesdays with Morrie
Best book I've ever read in my life. This book is very touching and funny. I guarantee you you'll love it.
kua fydz_ fidel g. manangan

"dealing with death"
The unfading freshness of this true story gives me a great power to face death fearless! Thanks GOD for this magnificent book.

Write your own review!

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Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Tuesdays With Morrie, try these:

  • Dinner with Edward jacket

    Dinner with Edward

    by Isabel Vincent

    Published 2017

    About this book

    A nonagenarian and a recently divorced reporter meet weekly for dinner, and the discussion ranges from the importance of beauty, to living after loss, to the power of love to redeem and renew, to how to make a succulent duck breast.

  • Somewhere Towards the End jacket

    Somewhere Towards the End

    by Diana Athill

    Published 2009

    About this book

    An esteemed memoirist examines aging with the grace of Elegy for Iris and the wry irreverence of I Feel Bad About My Neck.

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