This fictional fable concerns the man who invented the clock and thus became Father Time. Because of his obsession with measuring time, he is banished to a cave where he must listen to the voices of humankind wishing they had more time. After 6,000 years he is freed and sent to Earth to teach two people the true meaning of time. One is an old, enormously wealthy man who is dying of cancer and plans to have himself frozen and later revived and thus cheat death. The other is a broken-hearted teenager who wishes to end her time on Earth by suicide. As this is a fable, there is much magic and divine intervention, but if we suspend our disbelief the experience of the book is ultimately a rewarding one. Albom’s style is fluid and readable, and he has a gift for the memorable phrase. As the timekeeper of the title tells the character who wants to live another lifetime, the reason God limits our days is “to make each one precious”. The book’s message is a good one: live life and forget about the timekeeping.
