When Bad Things Happen to Good People

September 1, 2001
When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this book features Rabbi Kushner's perspective on how people can better deal with evil that enters their lives.

Rabbi Kushner delivers his enormously popular work with warm and avuncular aplomb. An old hand at homey sermons, he discusses harrowing personal losses, confronting some of life's biggest challenges. The audiobook's abridgment, however, reduces the helpfulness of the material. The single CD feels more like an introduction to Kushner's humane take on God's intentions when sorrow strikes rather than a usable framework of knowledge. The recording quality is adequate; it's the content that suffers, leaving the listener craving more information. For instance, what about when bad things happen to good self-help books? D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine