It seems that Mitch Albom hasn't explored the concept of death enough, and so his new book, "For One More Day," has now been released to pacify millions of people who buy his stuff for reasons that are beyond my comprehension. 
Albom started his ascent towards death with "Tuesdays with Morrie," which made him a best-selling author and seemed like a reasonable enough concept to me (although I never read it). In 1994, Morrie Schwartz, Albom's favorite college professor, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, and the educator opened himself up as a "human textbook" in giving lessons on how to live and die. 
Fine.
Wisdom from the dying is reasonable, and I can't fault the more than 10 million people who bought the book to hear what Morrie had to say.
But this kind of thing walks a fine line for me that falls somewhere between hard-earned wisdom and emotional pornography. However, Morrie was a real person and he had real feelings about things and concepts that are fairly universal to us all, so I can give Albom a pass on this one.
It was only of minor irritation to me that Albom felt compelled to state that the book had "changed millions of lives" smack dab on the cover.
Following Morrie's phenomenal success, Albom decided to start exploring death from a purely fictional angle, and thus began his journey into talking out of his ass with "The Five People You Meet In Heaven."
Heaven is about a nice-guy carnival worker who dies, and then encounters people that he touched in real life on his journey to the after life. Again, this is a feel-good story, but one that I have no interest in because it's purely a conceit of Albom's imagination that he can tell me what Heaven is like and what we should learn on Earth before we die.
Passages like "Every family is a ghost story," and "Love, like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with a soaking joy" don't help matters either because I already felt like I was soaking in schmaltz just by reading the back cover.
Now, Albom is back with Day, and he takes readers on a journey to celebrate an extra day of life before impending death where I'm sure the main character learns a plethora of heart-warming lessons by examining his existence and the people inside of it. 
My main problem with Albom is that he keeps going to back to this same well that is so full of inherent egomania, the notion that he knows what death will look like and what lessons we should learn before we embrace it, and he seems so determined to warm the cockles of your heart that it just irritates the hell out of me.
There are far worse things than books that make you embrace living, count your blessings, hug your family and save a baby seal on the way to work, however, for my money I'd rather be reading anything by Hunter S. Thompson, T.C. Boyle, Cormac McCarthy, or Larry McMurtry.
In their fictional worlds, death makes its presence felt, but they leave the interpretation entirely up to me to decipher.
-BDS
I did enjoy "Tuesdays with Morrie", but I agree he should move on for crying out loud. At least "Morrie" was a real story and was extremely touching, but he is trying to capitalize, like a good movie that has bad sequel after bad sequel!
I have an especial hatred for sentiment porn, having lost someone recently. And the lessons about life people learn in these things always amount to "Eat your wheat-cakes, be good to other people, take time to smell the roses, and take a walk once in a while." Um...kay, got it. We're done, professor.
I don't go for this hacked out pap. And the next person that tells me I really need to read The Five People You Meet in Heaven so I can fully understand my own life is getting hit. Two taps in the chest and one in the forehead. Capice?
Jackie - I've also never read nor plan to read the Chicken Soup series, although I do love chicken noodle soup when I'm sick.
Jenni222 - I think whatever makes you feel better or warm and fuzzy is worthwhile. Personally, I would rather watch Little House than read Albom, but whatever works, eh?
Jlee - Morrie seemed OK to me for the reasons you mentioned, and your bad sequel comparison is especially apt with Albom since then.
Samuraifrog - I know I'm way done with this kind of thing & sentiment porn is another good way to describe it.
Melissa - I like your idea. Take pictures please when it happens - I like reaction shots.
I am so out of it I thought "Tuesdays with Morrie" was about a man & his dog
duh.
maybe zach braff needs to read more mitch albom. i can just see his pensive forehead wrinkling in scrutiny now.
your existential crisis is meaningless, zach! we're all going to die! and when we get to heaven, we meet... jeff daniels? is that what the cover says? oh, that's the movie. i must be confused, but i'm not reading that crap, so i'll settle for ignorant bliss on this matter.
Nobich - The title does sound that way as Morrie sounds more like an animal name to me.
Julia - I think the ignorance is bliss philosphy is a good one to apply to this situation, and if I do meet Jeff Daniels in heaven I'm going to make him act out some of his scenes from "Dumb and Dumber" just for me.
I've only read Tuesday's with Morrie none of the others. I have a bookshelf full of books i'm working on, i'll be sure not to add his other books to the list. Too much to read, not enough time.
I haven't read any of them, so I can't comment on the writing and I haven't even watched the movie versions of them. I guess he figures if it is sucessful twice, there has to be at least another 3 or 4 times you can go back to that well.
Miss Ash - I completely agree with your too much to read comment, and I wouldn't hestiate to keep Albom off your list.
Sarcastic - I'm sure that what he and his publisher is thinking, but at some point, that well has to run dry. Doesn't it?
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
You're welcome. I've been wanting to get that off my chest for awhile.