I saw the movie long before I even knew it was a book. Strange how time will do that to things like this. In a round about way I discovered this via the book "I am Legend", not the film starring Robin Williams. A co-worker of mine let me borrow the book since he thought it was up my alley. After reading "I am Legend" I had some concerns about reading another book by Richard Matheson. I really didn't find that book as enjoyable as I thought I would and the short stories at the end were simply mind numbing and terrible. Granted there is quite a bit of time between the release of "I am Legend" and "What Dreams May Come" (1950's vs. 1970's). I still went in expecting the worst. 
 I'm pleased to report that I ended up enjoying this book quite a bit in the end. The books development is certainly interesting in itself. Matheson researched a lot about the afterlife, psychics, mediums, and near death experiences in order to write this book. He even includes a lengthy bibliography at the end of the book for those interested in further reading. The only unfortunate aspect is that I would be concerned that some books he read might be a little outdated by 2008. I'm not really one to talk on this subject too much for I am not that well read on the afterlife. I merely dabble here and there as a passing interest. Anyway, I'll get on with the review. 
 "What Dreams May Come" is a very unique story told from a very unique perspective that simply defies the odds in the name of love. If you're expecting some relation to the film, I should stop you now. The film was merely inspired by the book, not a book to film. Both stories, while maintaining the same general concept, are drastically different. Main character has a different job, different amount of children etc. You get the point. In this case Chris (the main character) is a writer who's married to the love of his life and has four children with her. Unfortunately Chris dies and passes on to the afterlife. The book is written as an "after the fact" perspective in which Chris communicated to a psychic medium what transpired to him in the afterlife. He then has the psychic deliver the transcript to his brother Robert and from there is how we get to read the story of Chris and what happened to him after death. Chris wasn't what we would call a "ghost" because ghosts tend to be stuck on this material plane of existence, instead he managed to move on and transcend to a higher realm of existence. From there he communicated to a very powerful medium what happened to him there. This perspective is essential in understanding the story. I don't want to delve too much deeper into the tale because I think the basics are best to understand if you're going to go on this adventure and let the rest be a surprise! 
 When I first started this book, I was sort of worried. I didn't like the book very much at first, mostly because it was concepts that I understood. I wanted him to move on and get to the other realm instead of staying in ours, but for sixty pages I had to deal with this. I was almost ready to give up after a while... but honestly if you're like me it's worth the wait! Once Chris' character transcends the novel picks up instantly, especially if you're the type of person that thirsts for this kind of stuff. Once he transcended he met his guide, what ancient people and people today erroneously call guardian angels. Once this takes place we get to really see the world of the afterlife. Some of the explanations and concepts get technical, but I loved this. I found these more interesting to read than the story half the time! It's very akin to my own perspective on religion, afterlife, and personal development. You could say I found a bit of a kindred spirit in what this book explains. One aspect that I truly loved, but many others may be put off by, is that the book heavily downplays the importance of religions in general. In this case if you are generally a good and moral person you'll transcend after death. Even atheists transcend. However, what happens to people that believe too hard in their religions is they perpetuate the cycle in the afterlife. Now this isn't exactly a punishment because it's what they actually want to do, it's just the fact that there is more to life and the afterlife than just following a religion. I've always felt this perspective was correct, not just by reading this book, but it's just something I've always known. So if you're curious about this kind of thing then this book is an excellent medium to transfer that knowledge and I would expect that if you want to back up a fictional novel then you should flip through his bibliography and read some of those books. 
 Personally, I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you hold to some general tenets like me where you hold knowledge of anything and everything to be very important for progressing in life. The book never really touches upon the darker side or grayer aspects of the world, like those who live good lives, but have a generally dark outlook on things and are at home in such worlds. In this book heaven is the generally accepted beautiful. However, there are a number of people that humbly reject this requirement, so I wonder if there is a place where these people exist in their own kind of "heaven". I wonder this because this afterlife Matheson paints for us has general rules. Science and mathematics still govern certain aspects. If one delves deep into those realms you can get pretty chaotic and some people like that... I am always curious of other perspectives and concepts of that nature, especially when they defy the norm and are not common. As you can see, this novel makes you think about the world around you! That's kind of its purpose.