Monday, February 27, 2012

The Ultimate Gift Book Review

I recently finished The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall. Being a fiction book, The Ultimate Gift was something different than I am used to reading.  I first heard about this book at an agricultural economics seminar I attended at the University of Missouri. If you would like to learn more about this seminar, I blogged about it here.  Dr. Kohl recommended this book because of the timeless morals that are taught throughout the story.

The Ultimate Gift is about a young man named Jason Stevens.  Jason's uncle, Red Stevens, was a very rich man due to his cattle and oil empire.  When Red died, his family flocked to find out what the rich man had left them.  Red gave the dysfunctional, spoiled family the money they had been waiting on. However, Jason did not receive his inheritance.  Red was Jason's great uncle and he saw something different about young Jason. Red made a series of video tapes before his death that outlined the tasks that Jason was to perform throughout the next year in order to receive his inheritance.  Red's hope being that he could turn Jason from his lazy and irresponsible ways before it was too late.  Red gives Jason 12 gifts in the form of different experiences.  The instructions for each of the gifts are outlined in a new video tape every month.  Red Stevens left his lawyer, Mr. Hamilton, with the duty of judging whether Jason performed each of the 12 tasks in the correct manner.  If he did learn all of the 12 gifts, Jason would receive the ultimate gift.  The lessons taught throughout the book are outlined below:

  1. The Gift of Work
  2. The Gift of Money
  3. The Gift of Friends
  4. The Gift of Learning
  5. The Gift of Problems
  6. The Gift of Family
  7. The Gift of Laughter
  8. The Gift of Dreams
  9. The Gift of Giving
  10. The Gift of Gratitude
  11. The Gift of a Day
  12. The Gift of Love
  13. The Ultimate Gift
This book was also made into a movie.  I have yet to see it, but I hear that it is worth watching.  This book was a really fast read and was a refreshing positive story.  



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