Book Review – The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

THIS is my favorite type of humor, dry and about as random as it gets.  I loved this book and I hate that it is over.  Only good thing about it being over is that I will no longer sneak into the bathroom to listen to a few more minutes.   I listen to most books on my commute, or when working out, IF I work out.  But when I get a really good book, it is hard to turn off and be present.  I just try to wait til my husband has to take shower or something and listen to a few more minutes. 

There is no way to say what it is about other than it’s about the crazy life of a man who is now 100.  Not everyone would love it.  My husband would probably find it upsettingly silly.  It is kind of a Second Hand Lions meets Forrest Gump book.

It is about getting out and living life, not sweating the small stuff, and not taking things too seriously.  Time in an Iranian prison one day and time with President Truman another.  It’s about not being caught up in fancy titles, not being impressed with fame, and realizing (for the reader, because the character always knew this) that what seems impressive on the outside to others is no different mundane everyday life to those living it.

And on a personal note: There is a tiny bit of me that relates to this character, although of course, my life doesn’t rise to his grand level.  But I do know that from the outside, some of the things I get to experience seem impressive.  It is not that I am not grateful for my experiences, but really eating lunch with a famous person who in on TV with Shaq and Barkley regularly, is not any different from lunch with any other person, except sometimes the chicken is a little better (or in this case, the warm butter soaked saltines were to die for).  What makes something noteworthy is the persons own character and personality, not how well known they are.  And in the case of that particular lunch, the fact that this man has adopted  multiple children, including those with sever disabilities, made the event interesting and noteworthy, not his fame or occupation.  People are just people.  Nothing is a glamorous at it seems.  They all have to poop and sleep.  But deep, good and interesting people are all around us: the taxi driver, the man at the coffee shop and the celebrity.    You never know who you may be standing beside.