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I picked it up to read a couple of days ago, and finished it today. It’s a short book, quite small too, and just 160 pages. It’s set in the United States, introduced by someone who says they are a journalist, who happens to come across a former baseball player called Chick (officially Charles) Benetto. Then Chick decides to tell his story, beginning with the fact that he tried to take his own life…
He recounts the fact that he’s divorced, he lost his job, he’s become an alcoholic and he’s alienated from his beloved daughter. He didn’t even hear that she was getting married until she sent him a notification, after the event, with photos. He’s heartbroken to feel that she is ashamed of him, and deeply hurt - he didn’t even know she had a serious boyfriend.
So he decides to end his life, and wants to do so in the house where he was born. He knows the house is empty, so he picks up a gun and sets out to drive there. He’s already quite drunk, and he buys some beer along the route, which he drinks as he weaves to and fro along the highway. The inevitable happens and he’s involved in a crash, but he manages to get out of his car and continues, on foot, towards his former home.
When he gets there, he’s surprised to find the fridge full, and totally bewildered to find his mother there - his mother died eight years previously. She is very pleased to see him, and makes him eat something, then takes him to see some of her hairdressing clients… he doesn’t know what to make of it all. Is he dreaming? Has he died? Is he hallucinating….?
It’s a cleverly written book, with the most recent reminiscences interwoven with incidents from Chick’s childhood. He was happy enough when he was young, though his parents made him choose between belonging mainly to his father or his mother. He chose his father, who was passionate about baseball, and his sister hung around their mother, who was a nurse. Then their father vanished one day, and their mother would not say why… and she soon lost her job as a nurse, and had to work in a boutique instead.
It’s quite emotive in places; the chapters are short, and the ones set in the past describe times when Chick didn’t stand up for his mother, and times when, he can see in retrospect, she stood up for him. He knows he didn’t appreciate her fully; he was quite rude to her at times, and didn’t like the way she would write him notes. He can see how he upset her, and eventually broke her heart… yet she carried on loving him.
There are themes of forgiveness, of the importance of honesty, and of the unconditional love that parents have for their children - or should do, anyway. As Chick learns more about his mother - while totally confused as to why he’s spending this day with her - we learn more about his childhood, and some of the reasons why he is so insecure and depressed.
The blurb on the back says, ‘If you had the chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it?’ But the story doesn’t really expound on that, exactly - Chick goes along with what’s happening to him, and it’s only towards the end that I could see how he was coming to terms with some of the past, learning things that enabled him to come to terms with it, and asking for forgiveness and acceptance.
I didn’t find this as intriguing or mysterious as the other two books, but on the whole I liked it; it was an easy read, and quite difficult to put down, so it’s a good thing it was so short. Reality has to be somewhat suspended, as with the other's other novels that I've read... but while actually reading, it all feels entirely believable.
Recommended in a low-key way if you like other books by Mitch Albom.
Review copyright 2026 Sue's Book Reviews
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