Mr. Joe: Tales from a Haunted Life is not spook-tacular

Mr. Joe is the true story about Joseph Barnett.   Early in the book we learn that he sees the peaceful looking head of his recently deceased grandfather in a mirror; and then the apparition follows him down the stairs.  However, this isn’t just about a man that sees ghosts, it’s about his life, background and the struggles that a single dad has.

If anything the title to the book is a bit misleading.  “Tales from a Haunted Life” might lead folks to believe that the book is mainly about ghosts, the person who can see them and the interesting tales that they learn about the spirits.   In reality the book only has three ghost stories which make up for less than 40 pages of the book.

The vast majority of the book details his life growing up in the 50’s, his mother, sister and work situation.  Joe is a custodian at a local school.  He used to have a middle manager job but was downsized and thanks to an ex co-worker, landed a job working the night shift.

It’s quite inspirational to read how he’s doing all of this for his two children and handle all of the tough blows life delivers his way.  His relationship with his mother was strained at best, due to her mental illness and alcoholism.  His sister was always the golden child, despite the fact that Joe was quite smart as a youth himself.

The narrative of the book is nice, easy to follow and reads like a docudrama of Stand By Me or American Graffiti, except with more serious subject matter.  That’s why the title of the book was so off putting for me.  I expected a book full of ghost stories and the first quarter alludes to that and sets that premise up nicely.  But then after that it goes full bore into his personal life, health, career, etc.

It’s not that Mr. Joe is a bad book; it’s just that it’s a book for people who want to read about family drama.  Sure the main character sees ghosts and sometimes works at a haunted school, but they’re a fraction of the story.  Working at a haunted school at night, what surprises would the night custodian find out?  See how sexy and interesting that sounds?

Sadly, that’s not this book.  This book is good if you’re expecting family drama and interpersonal stories of hope, delayed satisfaction and persistence.  All of those characteristics are awesome and I want to hear stories like that, just not when I go in expecting ghosts.