RAY VS THE MEANING OF LIFE - Michael F. Stewart


 Death is inevitable, but that doesn't make it any easy to accept, and when Ray loses his grandmother Ray examines the meaning of life.  ... Not because he's typically philosophical, but because his grandmother instructed him to do so in her will.  

Ray stands to inherit his grandmother's $1Million estate - a success trailer park inhabited by a number of ... unique ... people.  Perhaps misfits and oddballs would better describe the residents.  But to inherit this property, Ray must discover the meaning of life within the next 30 days.  If he doesn't do so, the estate will go to his estranged family. How will Ray know if he's found the answer of not? Grandmother has left the answer in an envelope.

Ray will experience a lifetime's worth of encounters in the next month, from nutjobs to nature, from the sullen to the sanguine, which will only help him to potentially achieving his goal.

I would classify this book as existential humor - sort of the same category into which I would place, Catch-22, A Confederacy of Dunces, or even M*A*S*H. It's not always laugh-out-loud funny (though there may be moments) but the general look at the everyday absurdities of human life has inherent humor and author Michael F. Stewart nicely exposes this through his unusual cast of characters.

I really enjoyed the contrasts and contradictions that Stewart employs to showcase life's absurdities.  This starts right with the concept of finding the meaning of life in a trailer park. Who thinks of a trailer park as a place to discover the meaning of life?

Based on the little bit of description I had read, and based on the goofy cover (I know ... don't judge a book by its cover, but more than one person felt that this cover was representative of the book contents!), I was rather expecting a cheesy, trying-too-hard-to-be-funny sort of book.  It wasn't. This was a solid, character-growth novel with plenty of humor and some nice life-lessons. There are a few moments when Stewart maybe tries a little too hard to either make a point or to be funny, but the overall book is quite sweet.

Looking for a good book? Ray Vs The Meaning of Life by Michael F. Stewart is a delightful, entertaining read.

I received this book as part of Amazon's "First Reads" program.

4 stars

* * * * * *

Ray Vs The Meaning of Life

author: Michael F. Stewart

publisher: The Publishing House

ISBN: 9781989133002

paperback, 284 pages

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