Tuesdays with Morrie

Tuesdays with Morrie is a memoir[1] by American author Mitch Albom[2] about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz gradually dies of ALS.

This article is about the book. For the film, see Tuesdays with Morrie (film).
Tuesdays with Morrie
First edition
AuthorMitch Albom
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreBiographical, Philosophical novel, Memoir
PublisherDoubleday
Publication date
1997
Media typePrint Hardcover, Paperback
Pages192
ISBN0-385-48451-8
OCLC36130729
378.1/2/092 B 21
LC ClassLD571.B418 S383 1997

The book topped the New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers of 2000. An unabridged audiobook was also published, narrated by Albom. The appendix of the audiobook contains several minutes of excerpts from audio recordings that Albom made in his conversations with Schwartz before writing the book.

A new edition with an afterword by Albom was released on the book's ten-year anniversary in 2007.

Synopsis

Albom is a successful sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press. After seeing his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz appear on Nightline, Albom phones Schwartz, and is prompted to travel to Massachusetts to visit him. An ensuing newspaper strike allows Albom to visit Schwartz every week, on Tuesdays. The book recounts each of the fourteen visits Albom made to Schwartz, supplemented with Schwartz's lectures, life experiences, and interspersed with both flashbacks and allusions to contemporary events.

After being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Morrie's final days are spent giving his former student Mitch his final lesson of life. The novel is divided into 14 different "days" that Mitch Albom spent with his professor Morrie. Throughout these days, Mitch and Morrie discuss various topic important to life and living. The novel also recounts Mitch's memories of Morrie as a professor.[3]

The 1st Audiovisual

This was the first episode out of three on a Nightline special on Morrie and his illness. Morrie caught the eye of a Nightline television producer after an article was published titled: "A Professor's Final Course: His Own Death". It was through this airing that Morrie's old student Mitch was reminded of his old professor, causing him to reach out and reconnect.

Main characters

Mitch Albom
Main article: Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom was born in May 1958 in New Jersey. Originally, he was a pianist and wanted to pursue a life as a musician. Instead he became an author, journalist, screenwriter, and television/ radio broadcaster. In his college years, he met sociology professor Dr. Morrie Schwartz who would later influence his memoir, Tuesdays with Morrie.

Morrie Schwartz
Main article: Morrie Schwartz

Morrie Schwartz is a sociology professor at Brandeis University who is diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Morrie is a very wise man who has had many experiences in life. The son of Russian immigrants, Morrie's childhood was not short of difficulties including the death of his mother and his brother's infection with the Polio virus. Morrie later went on to work as a researcher in a mental hospital where he learned about mental illness and how to have empathy and compassion for other people. Later in life, Morrie decided to be a sociology professor so that his teachings would influence as many people as possible. This is where he met his student and lifelong friend Mitch Albom. Morrie was married to Charlotte Schwartz and together they had two children. After a long battle with ALS, Morrie died on November 4th, 1995. His tombstone reads "A teacher until the end."

Adaptations

The book was adapted into a 1999 television film, directed by Mick Jackson, and starring Hank Azaria and Jack Lemmon.[2]

In 2002, the book was adapted as a stage play that opened Off Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre. Co-authored by Mitch Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher (Three Viewings) and directed by David Esbjornson (The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?). Tuesdays with Morrie starred Alvin Epstein as Schwartz and Jon Tenney as Albom. It received positive reviews.[4]

See also

References
  1. de Botton, Alain (23 November 1997). "Continuing Ed". The New York Times.
  2. "Tuesdays with Morrie". The New York Times.
  3. Albom, Mitch (2006), "Tuesdays with Morrie", Managed Care (Langhorne, Pa.), Books on Tape, 11 (2 Suppl): 31–3, ISBN 978-0-7393-4615-0, OCLC 1002100368, PMID 11907999
  4. Gutman, Les (November 2002). "Tuesdays with Morrie Review". CurtainUp. Retrieved 27 March 2019.

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