The Five People You Meet in Hell: An Unauthorized Parody

by Rich Pablum

Heaven can wait.

In the meantime...why not go to Hell?

Every once in a while a little book comes along that sheds light on our desire for intimacy, our determination to grow spiritually, and our collective yearning to define the boundaries of the soul.

The Five People You Meet in Hell is not that little book.

A sensitive everyman, Edgy works a meaning-less job at a seaside tourist trap. When a freak accident sends him to "the other side," he encounters a series of strangers compelled to explain the meaning of life. Running the gamut from annoying and incoherent to irritating and hard to follow, these individuals all share a basic desire with virtually every other soul in the universe: to make quick money from a made-for-television movie.

The Five People You Meet in Hell is as illuminating as a short-circuited night light and contains all the insight of a chocolate-dipped fortune cookie (with none of the fat). If you've ever died, expect to die, know someone who has died, raise alpacas, collect Hummel figurines, breathe air, or enjoy line dancing, you must buy this book. You will never think about thirteen bucks the same way again.

If you experience erections lasting more than four hours, please consult your physician.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[MBenzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, I really don't have anything against parodies, and I have a pretty open-minded sense of humor, but this book was just awful. Not once did I laugh...or even smirk for that matter. In fact, most of the time I didn't even know what was going on!

The author continually jumps from outdated, overused clichés to lame jokes. I was expecting to actually 'meet' five people in hell, just as we did with the original in Heaven, and I was expecting it to be done humorously, but not so. The book followed a VERY weak outline of the book it's parodying.

Overall I do not recommend this. It's really just not funny, and that was the whole reason I bought it. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is because I actually finished it...but believe me, it wasn't easy.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the original version, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and that was pretty good. I was hoping this book would be funny and witty. It was really a disappointment. All his jokes and wit were not clever at all. It was like the jokes were just trying to hard to get your attention. Like, "HEY!! Yeah, over here. See, I'm a joke! I'm suppose to be witty! Pay attention to me!" It was just in your face and overall was just poor writing. I was really hoping it would be funny, I wanted a good laugh, but if that's what you are looking for, don't read this book. Just skip to something that might take a little more time, but would be worth it. I really wanted to only give this like 1/2 a star, but that isn't possible, so it gets 1 star.

[Rowan MacBean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want my time back. The blurb from the inside cover flap amused me and then nothing else did. Maybe it wasn't my smartest choice ever to read a parody of something before reading the thing itself. But I don't think it would've made much of a difference. Partially because I'm finding a lot of reviews that say it's barely similar enough to The Five People You Meet In Heaven to be considered a parody but mostly because it just wasn't funny. I didn't crack a smile. Not even once. Billy Frolick (the actual name of the author), you fail.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I had unreasonable expectations....I thought this book was going to be funny. If you are going to mock a part of popular culture, I think you should either be funny or thoughtful. This was neither.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't help but laugh out loud many times!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know it was satire, but this author got a little too political for me.

[Krystal Salenski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book from a used book store out of curiosity. There really wasn’t anything I particularly enjoyed about this book. I could tell it was trying to be funny, but I didn’t find any of it funny. Basically this is a book that stars a judgemental old man that hates pretty much everything and everyone.

[ariel ojikutu · Rating 1 out of 5]

waste of an hour in a half. however, it did manage to get me back into reading because the incredibly low quality of writing didn’t require any comprehensive skill and i was able to breeze right though it. now that i’ve finished a book (if you’d like to call it that) i am motivated to continue reading and will be moving on to something of substance.

[Amanda O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love a good parody every now and then, but good lord in heaven.... (me making that joke in correspondence with the title was funnier than anything I read in this book)!! Just awful - don't recommend!

[Phoebe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tbh I was lost the whole time, I understood the premise however the execution was appalling. The books downfall was the jokes becoming very outdated and the references not really landing, also the fact i think this was a parody of a book I’ve never read so….

[e.j. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't even know what to say. There is just no redeeming value except that it's short! I didn't understand the humour or any part of it!

[Shannon Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.

[Apple Pie_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reviewing it gives it too much credit.

[Tegan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book surprisingly quickly, however it was largely disappointing. There were some quirks which I found funny and very clever, mostly where references to the parodied text were obvious. Edgy's character never really became established and this meant that the story plodded along for the mere purpose of humoring the referenced text.

[Elysa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucked. I try to be more eloquent in book reviews, but I can't. I LOVE parodies, especially ones of my favorite books, but this didn't deliver. I didn't even smile while reading it. It seemed dated, and it was published in 2005! That is just sad.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute idea, but it tries a bit too hard. I think I missed a bunch of it because I read the original awhile ago. I think it would have been better if I read it sooner after the original.

[Aljan · Rating 3 out of 5]

HAHAHAHHHA! Laugh out loud funny.

[Alison]

this book got no stars. it actually deserved - stars. thank god it was short-what a waste of time. to sum it up quickly-it sucked.

[Xy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny. Its a book you'd read when you're bored :D

[Katrina Patry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this right after I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven. It was funny but not a must read.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Um... I don't know what happened here, but I haven't read this. Don't know how it ended up in my books. So don't think less of me when you see this on my lists.

[Lyndsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book ever! Author needs to figure out that he is NOT funny, not even kinda!

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very funny book if you already read "The 5 Peaple you meet in Heaven"

[Elizabeth Nesbit-comer · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick, but comical.

[Mirah W · Rating 1 out of 5]

argh...I thought this was a total waste of time...some of the parody was funny but the overall writing style was very poor.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something light and humorous. Very quick read.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome Parody to Mitch Album's book!

[Jacqulyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious mockery of Mitch Albom's touching novel. Well worth the read if you need a good laugh.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny parody. Gives you some perspective.

[Jennifer S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly awful. I felt no compulsion to go past the second chapter.