Read — Tuesdays with Morrie

I was in a mega bookstore to find a book about narcissism when the cover of Tuesdays with Morrie winked up at me. I’d never heard of it, though it had been on the New York Times Bestseller list for over six years, and had been made into an Oprah-produced TV movie of the week starring Jack Lemmon.

A wise old teacher, the antithesis of a narcissist, who is about to check out from this vale of tears because of ALS, is reunited with one of his most cherished, though self-involved students. Before the teacher dies, during a series of Tuesday visits, he imparts his wisdom to his student, Mitch Albom, who has become a successful sports journalist.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a slim volume, poignant and encouraging, easily read in a couple hours, and one worth keeping on the shelf for future re-reading.

Initially I wondered what motivated Mitch Albom to cash in on the final chapters of Professor Morrie Schwartz’s life. As it turns out, the book was written to help defray the costs of Morrie’s catastrophic illness. The initial run was 25,000 copies, and there are now over 11 million copies in print.