I Never Saw Paris: A Novel of the Afterlife - Hardcover

Freund, Harry I.

3.06

85 ratings by Goodreads

9780786720545: I Never Saw Paris: A Novel of the Afterlife

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786720549 ISBN 13: 9780786720545

Publisher: Carroll & Graf, 2007

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On his way to a department store in Manhattan, 64-year-old businessman, Irving Caldman, is waiting at the intersection of Park Avenue with three other pedestrians, when a driver jumps the curb and runs them all over.

The next thing Irving knows, he is no longer preparing for a trip to Paris with his wife. Instead, he is watching four faces as they ascend to heaven, on their way to be greeted by the angel Malakh. Accompanying Irving are an attractive personal shopper in her early fifties; a grandmother who works as a housemaid nearby; a twentysomething man who is an interior decorator; and the driver, a candy store owner and widower.

Bound together for a week with Malakh, before their souls will be allowed to move on for judgment, Irving and his fellow victims must all tell the group their life stories, in order to evaluate and justify their earthly existence. As their insecurities and deepest secrets are exposed, they argue at length, and yet come to a strange peace, in this unexpected parable. I Never Saw Paris is a funny, moving, and thought-provoking look at the foibles and follies of an improbable group of New Yorkers.

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About the Author:

Harry Freund lives in New York City with his wife. He has two grandchildren.

Review:

"The delightful heart and soul of I Never Saw Paris is the gradual unburdening of each character of his or her prides, prejudices, illusions, bitter truths, good deeds and bad. These are people we come to care about, introduced to us by an author with a warm heart and a sprightly sense of humor. Author Harry Freund may kill the entire cast in the opening chapter but the new life he then gives them is worth every enjoyable word on the road to the heart-warming conclusion." -- The Advocate, 10/06/07

"This is an intriguing, light treatment of the importance of life." -- Deseret Morning News, 10/12/07

"An intriguing and imaginative speculation about the fate of five people who are suddenly and simultaneously killed in an auto accident...Eminently worthy of our attention...[Freund has] an unusually genial touch, defying the customary gravity that surrounds questions of death and dying." -- National Jewish Post & Opinion

"By turns funny, charming, thought-provoking and even occasionally philosophical. Like author Freund's debut work, 2005's Love, With Noodles, it lifts with a sweet and gentle wisdom while never hesitating to add a rich laugh." -- January Magazine

"This high-spirited and often appealing novel draws on some of the same subject matter as Mitch Albom's hugely popular The Five People You Meet in Heaven...Engagingly drawn...[A] broadly diverse cast of characters...This is a feisty and irreverent group, and Freund is especially good at exposing the comforting fictions we often tell ourselves about our lives...A potentially popular item in public libraries. Recommended." -- Library Journal

"Told...with gentle humor, the story is reassuring...A pleasant jaunt through death and judgment in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Because how you conduct yourself matters more than what you believe, many will find comfort in this vision. Perhaps the most profound notion here is that there is great strength in people coming together and supporting one another, and this principle is at work even after death." -- Blogcritics.org

"With humor and candor, Freund explores a perceived reality that many believe awaits us, and merges it with the human need for inquiry and verification...The novel progresses linearly and confronts real life issues in layers that are accessible to the layperson...Freund depicts the fallibility of human nature in almost home-movie like quality, creating a patchwork of scenes from characters' lives...He leads readers to a plateau of understanding through inciting the empathy that is arguably innate, that manifests when we've seen each other at our most naked and vulnerable." -- PopMatters.com

"[A] friendly little novella...[A] jaunty little novel." -- Magill Book Reviews

"[Freund's] ideas are creative and insightful and would likely be of interest to anyone curious about life after death...Leave[s] us with a warm and hopeful feeling about what the end may bring." -- Jerusalem Post

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