Book Review - The Last Temptation of Clarence Odbody

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

I was more pleased than I expected to be with The Last Temptation of Clarence Odbody, by John Pierson.

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It's a Wonderful Life was a dark film. It touched on some taboo subjects that still are difficult to talk about in present times. However, it ended on such a terrifically high note that most people forget how disturbing almost 75 percent of that film truly is.

I will admit that there were times when I was revolted and horrified that Pierson took such a great movie and moved it to an even darker place than what even Pottersville allowed.

Where Pierson excelled was in his attention to detail in the film. I found what I thought were a couple of errors. However, through the miracle of Goodreads and Facebook, I was able discuss these "errors" with Pierson, and came to understand that since this is an alternate version of how the story comes out, the details don't necessarily have to stay true to the film.

I was also disappointed that we didn't find out what ever happened to such a devilish character, or why he was so helpful to one character, yet so destructive to another. The motivation for both was missing. I had this discussion with the author, as well, but I'll leave the pleasure of discovery to you. Maybe you will catch what I missed.

When this book got really, really (really!!!!!) dark, I almost put this book down. It was taking me to a place that I, as a HUGE fan of It's a Wonderful Life, didn't want the story to go. But I followed through, and as much as it hurt, it was worth it. The epilogue is full of quotable moments.

Never think your future is written. It's not. Never let anyone tell you what you can or can't or should or shouldn't do. They need to keep their mouths shut. The world is out there. Now let go of the past and go explore it, even if it is just in your own back yard.

I give this book 4 stars out of 5.