Ray vs the Meaning of Life

De: Michael F Stewart

Narrado por: Kevin Clay

Grandma's last will and testament names Ray to inherit the trailer park. It's a million-dollar estate with one hitch: To prove he's not as aimless as he seems, Ray must discover the meaning of life by the end of the month. (She left the answer in an envelope.) If he fails, the camp goes to his estranged family.

How does anyone find the meaning of life while running a park full of misfit miners, would-be truck racers, and one demanding little girl? There's a bear, too. A grizzly. Maybe that'll help?

©2018 Michael F Stewart (P)2018 Michael F Stewart

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Booby-trapped with guns, grizzly bears, and homemade fireworks, the cartoonish park setting skillfully gives wheels to a larger, more intriguing philosophical question.... A tale spins its answer to an age-old question into an inclusive, hilarious, and thought-provoking yarn." (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))

"Ray vs The Meaning of Life will have readers rolling their eyes in mock horror, laughing out loud, and asking themselves about the meaning in their own lives. For an author to take readers from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again shows both a willingness to take risks with his writing and an incredible understanding of his audience. Highly Recommended." (CM: Canadian Review of Materials)

THIS is what a YA book is meant to be!

When this title appeared on my radar, I hesitated to jump on board for a review. I wasn’t sure about the title or the Monty Python-ish cover. Yet, there was something… I thought the premise of Ray Vs the Meaning of Life sounded good, and I was craving a YA book, so I dove in and never came up for air until the book was done. The story, the characters, and the storytelling are all FABULOUS, and the narration is perfection, and I am totally fangirling over this book. This is what a YA book should be – authentic, humorous, and alive with people and places and ideas that stick to the ribs and make the reader want to do better.

“The only thing I know is that caring for a trailer park is not the meaning of life.”

From the opening scene (cue Monty Python again: “I’m not dead yet!”), readers will be laughing at the dark humor of Grandma’s demise. This pivotal event, well…series of events, are what set the stage for the rest of the book as Ray and his family deal with Grandma’s final Will and Testament and required hoop-jumping – namely, Ray must identify the meaning of life to get his substantial inheritance. Granny was no dummy and knew Ray would need some help, and so she spent a sizable chunk of money hiring life-coach guru, Dalen Anders.

“If I see farther than others, it’s only because I stand on the shoulders of those wiser than myself. No teacher relies on what they figure out themselves. Wisdom is wisdom. Second-hand wisdom is like second-hand gold. It holds whatever value is ascribed by its holder.”

Dalen Anders! His lines are some of the cheesiest and most fabulous in the book. Dalen is one of my favorite characters, and it is refreshing that Dalen, as well as other adults in the story, are integral to Ray’s life and his growth. They are all marvelously flawed but realistic characters that enrich the story where so many other YA books omit, downplay the importance of, or represent adults as idiots.

“I wear a clean pair of jean shorts with paint spatter and an unstained but moderately malodorous tee-shirt with a Dalek on the front. Under it are the words You are irrelevant.”

Author Michael F. Stewart has the gift for painting perfect snapshots of life and people in his rich, colorful, and humor-infused descriptions. Stewart is an outstanding storyteller, and at its core, Ray Vs the Meaning of Life is a beautiful story because what happens in Ray’s life is the human experience for all of us. Ray’s quest to find the meaning of life has an impact on everyone else’s lives, and so Grandma’s final directive ends-up helping everyone else figure out what’s important in life, too. What makes the book even more perfect is that once Ray’s eyes are opened to what it means to put others first and give of self, he STILL doesn’t put two and two together. Even though I was disappointed with the big reveal of Grandma’s definition of the meaning of life, it really is the perfect, most realistic ending there could be, and the epilogue left me grinning.

ABOUT THE NARRATION: Kevin Clay NAILS IT. From voicing Grandma (Think Vicki Lawrence’s as Mama from the Carol Burnett show. Hilarious!) to teenager Ray to the backwoods accents of the trailer park residents to the righteousness of Dalen, Clay makes each character unique and memorable. Whether the character is male or female, young or old, his delivery is perfection, and this book is one of the few which doesn't need the listening speed increased. A quick search reveals Clay’s narrated a ton of books – including some by one of my favorite authors, Preston Child – so I am excited to listen to more of his performances.

Thank you to the author and Audiobookworm Productions for providing me an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

Humorous in Quest for Meaning of Life

Not for younger teen audience due to some language and one sexual scene. Very funny and thought provoking amidst the humor. Great when want a lighthearted read for a change.

Great book! Great Narration!

I love the simplicity and honesty of the story. The near ration but Kevin Clay was outstanding. He truly has a gift for transporting you in the moment with the characters!

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!

The story caught my attention right away, but it was the characters that kept me wanting to hear more. I also enjoyed the performance of the narrator with each character having their own personality. It's a fun book. It made me smile alot and laugh out loud a few times. It's worth the time. HAVE FUN!!

Quirky and endearing, a must read!

The blurb of this book sounded felt so different from the mainstream for YA that I immediately became curious. Ray is part of a very dysfunctional and atypical family. They own and live in a caravan park, and his grandmother leaves him the park if he finds the meaning of life within a month.

The story is told in the first person by Ray, and the writing style is indeed the one of a teenager. It's quirky at times and reflexive at others. At the beginning of the story, I felt really annoyed about Ray's family and the way they treated him. I thought it was so sad how some people can behave during hard moments, almost mistreating their loved ones. It was good that the story picked my interest rather quickly because I was feeling so bad about Ray that I was not sure I wanted to read this book.

In the search for the meaning of life, Ray will count with the help of a famous guru, and in the middle of his grieving, he will learn that the best way of finding the meaning of life is not focusing on it. The characters in this book evolve great lengths thought the story, especially Ray. I found it easy to relate to him, and I laughed and cried in equal parts. 

This book is also a journey of self-discovery, and a great book not only for young adults. Sometimes we're obsessed with great tasks, just forgetting what we have in front of us. This is what I learned from this book, a good piece of advice at any age:

Imagine your better self.
Visualize your goals and achieve them.
Think you'd be dead tomorrow. What will you do today?
Create good habits.
Find what you truly love and focus your energy towards that.
Keep your promises.
Be kind.
I just feel like writing this in big letters and put it on my wall where I can see it every day.

Kevin Clay's narration was really enjoyable. He not only impersonated Ray but also gave different styles and voices to the other characters. His narration is what kept me going at the beginning of the book when I was not sure whether I was going to like it or not. It was simply perfect.

I think this is a great book, which I would recommend to all teens, but I think it will also be enjoyed by people of any age group since it deals with universal truths. I'd love to see this on the big screen.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Michael F. Stewart. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.