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  • 1-JUN-2024 | Excerpt from "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom

1-JUN-2024 | Excerpt from "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom

Author

Dan Bogachek
June 01, 2024

Excerpt from "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom

I highly recommend this read.

Short and heart-wrenching in places, existential throughout.

The End

This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.

The last hour of Eddie's life was spent, like most of the others, at Ruby Pier, an amusement park by a great gray ocean. The park had the usual attractions, a boardwalk, a Ferris wheel, roller coasters, bumper cars, a taffy stand, and an arcade where you could shoot streams of water into a clown's mouth. It also had a big new ride called Freddy's Free Fall, and this would be where Eddie would be killed, in an accident that would make newspapers around the state.

This works so well because it subverts expectations.

You open the book, and the first thing you read is, “The End”.

Then, the voice. “You” and “we” break the fourth wall.

Particularly interesting: multiple instances of passive voice. “The last hour of Eddie’s life was spent” and “this would be where Eddie would be killed”.

Here, it works perfectly — especially with the Morgan Freeman narration vibe. It’s the same voice you’d use to describe a lab procedure. It’s clinical, and it zooms you out for a bird's-eye view.

You glance at your watch.

It’s 6:28. You’ve been at it since 3.
Your hot date is at 7. Crap. Running late. Sink shower it is.
Nowhere close to done editing…

“…at least all the ideas are laid out, so there’s that. Did I miss anything? I don’t think so? Ok, but how do I make it flow? I need to get the final draft to Stacey for design asap, team cutoff is at noon Thursday…”

You’ve spent dinner completely distracted. Your date just took off. You go home exhausted, plod to your desk, and crack open the laptop.

Or… it could go like this:

5:41 — you’re out of the shower and lip-syncing.
6:17 — dressed to the nines and zenned out.
7:03 — the sunset glints off your aviators as you smile hello.
8:36 — it actually feels like you’re hitting it off. Not just hot, funny to boot.
Next morning, 10:27 — polished draft ready in your inbox.
10:31 — Stacey messages back, “thanks, looks good!”

The difference?

You had Copygloss handle it yesterday afternoon.

For help with editing, email Dan:
[email protected].