He captured the hearts of North Americans with his heart-warming stories of despair, pain and emotional anguish. He's taught us all how to live, love and learn through the eyes of understanding. The same hack-job that single-handedly wiped out endless rain forests to produce the paper of his business venture on the capitalization of human emotion is back. Actually, he's always been there. But I never bothered to care until now.
If you've been catching up on some readings of any Detroit papers, then chances are you've come across The Detroit Free Press. And, should you be so inclined to read the bylines, you may notice a quasi-familiar name: Mitch Albom. Ring a bell? Perhaps. Let me clear it up for you in case there is any question.
Mitch Albom; author of Tuesday's With Morrie, For One More Day and other books that capitalize on the frailty of human emotion by fusing morale-induced endings with slim-to-nil plots.
I read Tuesday's With Morrie. Why? I don't know. A friend told me it would be a good book to read during a time when I was coping with a family loss. And you know what? It worked. I read Tuesday's With Morrie and became so enraged that my mind deterred from the aforementioned situation and focused instead on forever bashing Mitch Albom on any chance I could get.
So I found it mildly amusing to read that even Detroit fans call "The Delicate Genius." Delicate for obvious reasons, a genius because he basically made half the nation suckers with hardly any effort at all. But that's only my decoding of the nickname. P.T. Barnum would be proud.
Kukla's Korner has this to say about Mitch "The Delicate Genius" Albom:
There was a time, long ago, when the idea of reading a Mitch Albom column brought with it a sense of anticipation. You just knew his stuff would be that good. Back in ‘87 he made a point of traveling with Jacques Demers, every day, to the rink during the playoffs. He wrote with true sorrow about the playoff loss to Edmonton after the “Goose Loonies” incident. He was a Wing fan’s columnist. But over the years, Mitch found other interests...radio, tv, fiction (both in the papers and out) and the Wings fell by the wayside. Oh, Mitch shows up at the Joe now and then. When? October and April. No time for Detroit hockey during the regular season. Nope. Mitch is all about the beginning and the end. Unfortunately, like so many mediocre writers, he’s forgotten the middle. But when the time comes to rip the Wings, with very little knowledge of the team or organization....there he is, The Delicate Genius.
Awkward as it is to have something in common with a Detroit fan (other than the sport of hockey), it's still nice to know that no one likes him. He was a sports writer before the book deals and remains a sports writer; that I can admire. But his general coverage leaves you wondering if you're actually reading a game recap, or if he's just building a loose plot around a worthless moral.