Mitch Albom's talk in Stuart Wednesday may provide insights about truth and antisemitism

We live in a world where the answers to fundamental questions like "Is climate change real?" and "Who won the last presidential election?" depend largely on the company one keeps.

Mitch Albom's latest book, "The Little Liar," doesn't attempt to sort out who's right and who's wrong in the major debates of our times. However, Albom's latest story does explore the theme of how truth can become distorted, depending on a person's point of view.

"The book is basically a parable about truth and lying, and hope and forgiveness," Albom told me Monday in a brief telephone interview.

The book also focuses on antisemitism at a time when, sparked by the Israeli-Hamas conflict, hate speech against Jewish people seems to be gaining popularity in some circles.

Albom to relaunch popular speaker series

Albom is a Detroit Free Press columnist and author best known for "Tuesdays With Morrie," a bestselling memoir. Albom's other books include "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" and "The Time Keeper."

He will be appearing Wednesday evening at Temple Beit HaYam, 951 SE Monterey Commons Blvd. in Stuart, in what is essentially a relaunch of the Rappaport Center's popular speaker series.

The series, the inspiration of the late philanthropist Jerome "Jerry" Rappaport and sponsored by TCPalm, began nearly two decades ago with a goal of offering Treasure Coast residents unique viewpoints on politics, law, conservation, journalism, the arts and other subjects.

The center's roster of almost 20 speakers through the years includes Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, super lawyer Alan Dershowitz, political analyst David Gergen and oceanographer Edie Widder.

The in-person speaking events had been on hold in the wake of COVID and Rappaport's death in 2021. Albom's presentation will be the first of two events this spring, with David Ignatius, a foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Post and author of spy novels, scheduled to speak April 10.

The relativism of 'truth'

"The Little Liar" tells the story of Nico Krispis, an 11-year-old boy living in a small Greek village during World War II. Nico is known for his ability to always speak the truth.

However, he is duped by Udo Graf, a German agent who convinces Nico to convince his friends and neighbors homes and jobs await those being loaded on trains for Auschwitz.

With Nico's help, the Germans are able to arrange the orderly removal of Jewish people from the village. Only at the end does Nico learn he had been lying to everyone he loved, sending them to their doom.

Racked with guilt and grief, Nico becomes a serial liar. The book follows the next 40 years in his life and the lives of the other major characters: Nico's brother, Sebastian; Sebastian's wife, Fannie; and the Angel of Truth.

Albom started writing the book two years ago. The relative nature of "truth" was apparent to him then.

Albom noted people in today's society tend to rely only on media sources that reinforce their viewpoints, while ignoring other media that offer different narratives.

"We seem to have 16 different versions of the truth," Albom said.

Not that he sees that as healthy.

“There is no universal truth. It’s just the truth that we choose to believe," Albom told the Jewish Journal in an interview last fall. "As long as we surround ourselves with like-minded people, we don’t hear contrary points of view — or we cancel contrary points of view, then we’re not really being true to the truth. We’re taking the truth and filtering it through our own [lens].”

An old story with lingering lessons

Albom sees echoes of his fictional story, although set long ago, in the Hamas terrorist attacks last fall.

“When I heard [how they] stacked dozens of bodies on top of one another, having done all this research for the book, and knowing how common that was for the Nazis to use, it was bone chilling,” Albom told the Jewish Journal.

Albom also told the Jewish Journal the book is intended to help clarify how horrible the Holocaust was, particularly as people forget some of the details over time.

“We’re at that very delicate stage where people are forgetting or even worse, they’re rewriting history, and they’re trying to tell people that it didn’t happen or wasn’t as bad as people thought,” he said.

Albom told me he hopes readers of "The Little Liar" will have three important takeaways: 1) "The truth is precious and we have to treat it as such." 2) "There's always room for hope." 3) "Forgiveness. ... The book explores forgiveness on many levels."

Albom said his presentation will examine how forgiveness has been a recurring theme in some of his other works as well, including "Tuesdays With Morrie," in which one of his mentors urged him to forgive those who had wronged him in his life.

Albom said he plans to discuss how some of the characters from "The Little Liar" were inspired by people he met at a Haitian orphanage he and his wife operate.

The event, scheduled to last from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., will also feature photos and videos, as well as Albom reading selected passages of his work.

Honest reviews of 'The Little Liar'

Some of the book's early reviews have been positive. Most of the reviewers who have weighed in on GoodReads have given the book five stars.

USA TODAY called the story "a moving parable that explores honesty, survival, revenge and devotion."

"The Little Liar is Mitch Albom at his very best. Narrated by the voice of Truth itself, it is a timeless story about the harm we inflict with our deceits, and the power of love to ultimately redeem us," the review said.

"As with all Albom books, the pages turn quickly," wrote Rob Merrill, who reviewed "The Little Liar" for the Associated Press. "For most, this is a book that will be read in just one or two sittings. But no matter how long it takes, it will stay with you."

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at blake.fontenay@tcpalm.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Famous author Mitch Albom to discuss truth-telling in Stuart Wednesday