Andy Andrews, described on the book jacket as "a comedian, author, speaker, entertainer, television celebrity, and...serious fisherman," offers up this piece of fantasy historical fiction in which the protagonist, David Ponder, is about to lose everything he values because of a business gone bad. In an It's a Wonderful Life twist, he seeks to end his life, thinking that his family would be better off without him by collecting his insurance money. Rather than not being born, however, Ponder is transported through time, where he "meets," in order, Harry Truman, Solomon, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Christopher Columbus, Anne Frank, Abraham Lincoln, and the archangel Gabriel. Each one gives him a "decision for success" which he is to use when he recovers from his car accident.
What Andrews attempts to do, in a rather hokey but easy-to-read way, is present to his readers a seven-step plan for taking control of their lives. Slightly spiritual without getting preachy, the book's seven tips do make sense, even if Andrews' method of presenting them is a bit far-fetched. (His historical research, however, especially on Chamberlain, is very good.) But perhaps this is what some people need in this era of self-help overload--a little escapism to help them realize that their lives are something that can be managed, and they don't need $200-an-hour help to do it. The simplest ways are often the best, if not the easiest, ways to do things.