When Bad Things Happen to Good People - by Harold S Kushner (Paperback)

About the Book

In the Preface to this 20th anniversary edition of his bestselling book, Rabbi Kushner relates the heartwarming responses he has received over the last two decades from people who have found inspiration and comfort within the pages of this classic book.

Book Synopsis

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The inspirational classic from a renowned spiritual leader that "offers a moving and humane approach to understanding life's windstorms" (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross).

When Harold Kushner's three-year-old son was diagnosed with a degenerative disease that meant the boy would only live until his early teens, he was faced with one of life's most difficult questions: Why, God? Years later, Rabbi Kushner wrote this straightforward, elegant contemplation of the doubts and fears that arise when tragedy strikes. In these pages, Kushner shares his wisdom as a rabbi, a parent, a reader, and a human being. Often imitated but never superseded, When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a classic that offers clear thinking and consolation in times of sorrow.

Review Quotes

"Whether religious or not, this book will speak because it touches-profoundly, but simply-on questions no parent and no person can avoid." --Harvey Cox, Harvard Divinity School

"When Bad Things Happen to Good People offers a moving and humane approach to understanding life's windstorms." --Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

"A touching, heartwarming book for those of us who must contend with suffering, and that, of course, is all of us." --Andrew M. Greeley

"This is a book all humanity needs. It will help you understand the painful vicissitudes of this life and enable you to stand up to them creatively." --Norman Vincent Peale

About the Author

HAROLD S. KUSHNER was rabbi laureate of Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts, having long served that congregation. The author of more than a dozen books on coping with life's challenges, he died in 2023.