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The Choice | 
 enlarge | Author: Og Mandino
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 105075
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0553245767
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780553245769
ASIN: 0553245767
Publication Date: May 1, 1986
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Product Description
Choice! The key is Choice. Youhave options. You need not spend your lifewallowing in failure, ignorance, grief, poverty, shame,and self-pity. But, hold on! If this is true thenwhy have so many among us apparently elected tolive in that manner? The answer is obvious. Those wholive in unhappy failure have never exercised theiroptions for a better way of life because they havenever been aware that they had anyChoices !
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
 Absolutely Life Saving September 27, 2008
This book, and others by Mr. Mandino, have saved my life. This authors unique take on finding the light when the candle has been extinguished is invaluable. I am forever grateful to have been enlightened by his words.
 We Need to Remember that We all have Choices! September 2, 2008
The Truth: I'm a Girl, I'm Smart and I Know Everything As a positive psychologist and author of four books designed to inspire, my latest being The Truth (I'm a girl, I'm smart and I know everything) I am always eager to read other inspirational books. This book is a very interesting read. It is inspirational to get inside the life of a person who is able to stop, re-evaluate and make a new choice in his or her way of living. This is actually, psychologically a very difficult thing to do. It takes much more than a dream to really make a decision that will affect the way you live, work and think about your purpose in life. My only caution in reading The Choice is to remind the reader to not be discouraged in his or her efforts for change, as the protagonist is not the average person. For those of us who are more ordinary, and not already in a big job with power and prestige, I would recommend that you let Og inspire you and then take the time to slowly, carefully and with thought and guidance make the choices that are best for you.
 Not Inspirational February 6, 2008
This book claims it has a surprisingly new message of hope...it doesn't. Its about Og and how he left his job to write a book...
You choose how to live your life October 7, 2007
I have read all of Og's books. This book is a follow up to "The World's Greatest Salesman." It talks about the struggles of writing the first book and the great success that resulted when it was published. It talks about quitting a successful career and going off into the Northeast to write a book. It talks about the effect that big change had on his wife and children. It talks about his self doubts and his personal struggles during the lean times and then the different problems that he had when he suddenly became rich and famous. He makes a very good case for how each of us has choices in the way we can life our lives. The choices come along each day in many small ways. You just never can predict what will happen as a result of each small choice. It is a thought provoking book.
A Reluctant "Thumbs Down" June 10, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I begin with three "although's":
Although I realize many people enjoy Og Mandino's works (I myself have enjoyed his short stories in the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books), and
although there may be something helpful here for a reader searching for a message of hope (mostly limited to a short "speech" near the end of the story), AND
although the story itself was entertaining and surprising, I was ultimately disappointed in the end.
For those searching for hope, Mandino's book "A Better Way to Live" might prove more helpful. (However, for a full serving of honest hope, I much more strongly recommend something like Philip Yancey's "What's So Amazing About Grace," Fred Rogers' "You Are Special" or "The World According to Mister Rogers," or nearly any fictional work by Madeleine L'Engle.)
For the rest of you seeking for just some solid spiritual nourishment, this book comes up short.
(By the way, a reviewer should state WHY a book is good or bad; as I write this, only one or two others in this Amazon forum have done so, and only one in any detail. And I find it suspicious that two who do recommend this book are also plugging their own books along with Mandino's.)
"The Choice" is apparently about Og Mandino himself; the main character (Mark Christopher) is writing his first book, "A Better Way to Live," which is Mandino's own first book; furthermore, the main character's mother died while making the author a tunafish sandwich, which is Og's own history as well. Whether or not the story in "The Choice" is intended to be an accurate account of how Mandino wrote "A Better Way," it is obvious that he intends for the reader to identify Mark Christopher with himself.
Given that, the main story is ultimately about what a wonderful person the author of "A Better Way to Live" is. Oh, sure, there is a speech of hope at the end -- slightly over 11 pages (in the paperback edition) that may stir you to find a better way -- but 11 out of 162 pages is probably fewer than you are looking for.
At the end of the book, he writes that Heaven finds his (the author's) words so stirring, that he is granted a longer life to "share, unselfishly," his way to a better life(!).
Okay, let's give Og Mandino the benefit of the doubt: let's imagine Heaven really did grant him that favor.
How is a story which (1) uses the vast majority of the pages to show what a wonderful man the author is, but (2) only a fraction of the book to discuss his ways to a better life, "unselfishly" helping others?
Let me be clear: I do understand that Og Mandino's writings have honestly helped many people, and I do not disagree with that assessment. However, if the eleven-page speech in "The Choice" was fleshed out to become the main message, this book would prove much more worthy of the descriptions on its front and back covers. As it stands, I cannot recommend it.
So what are you waiting for? Check out Mandino's "A Better Way to Live" instead -- and don't forget the works of Philip Yancey, Fred Rogers, and Madeleine L'Engle!
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