Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely classic!
Review: I read the reviews for this book and had to check it out for myself. I laughed a lot and thought a lot. What I found most intriguing was how well the author was able to really define where innocence ended and jadedness began in Ray's life...or is that jadedness ended and innocence began. It certainly gave me pause in looking at my own life.All in all, it was an enjoyable read. I thought that the first chapter was absolutely hysterical. I didn't laugh that hard again until the very last line which was absolutely classic and probably portrays human nature,even at the end of our lives, more accurately than most of us would like to think.
Rating:
Summary: Love, life, and everything in between
Review: If you loved books such as BIG FISH or Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, then you'll like RAY IN REVERSE. Brilliantly conceived and plotted, the idea of this book alone is worth the price of admission. But what Wallace does with his material is fascinating, choosing to show us sometimes comic, sometimes sad vignettes of Ray's life, and not necessarily in any particular order--which is wonderful for getting a great perspective and depth on the character. The mixture of pathos and humor in this book is staggering and should not be missed. Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
Rating:
Summary: It kept me thinking
Review: Ray in Reverse is light and humorous, and not a ponderous tome. I chuckled over Ray, and worried and wondered about him. I read the book straight through and finished with a smile. But the wonderful thing about Ray in Reverse is that it keeps coming back to me. Ray's last words are keeping me thinking. I highly recommend the book.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, sad and beautifully written
Review: Ray Williams, the deceased protagonist of Daniel Wallace's tragicomic second novel, finds himself in Heaven's "Last Words" discussion group. Embarrassed by his prosaic death (from cancer at age 50) and his inconclusive final utterance, "I wish," he initially fabricates a more bloody and dramatic ending and, unmasked, storms off in a huff. His life then passes before us in a series of vignettes, beginning with his slow dying while the backyard birds make nests of his discarded hair and ending with an innocent act of simple heroism at age 10. Each chapter reveals an emotionally pivotal moment in Ray's life - his wife's infidelity and the near break-up of his marriage, the treehouse he built for his son and used himself as a drinking refuge, his sexual confusion, early relationships, one-night stands, childhood mysteries. The chapters are complete stories; some brief and poignant, some more complex, revealing harrowing secrets - jolting the reader and Ray too. Williams' comic touch is sometimes gentle, even sad, other times prickly and nightmarish. In one incident Ray hits a dog with his car and rather than driving on, stops, finds the dog's address from its tag and visits the animal's owners, thereby embroiling himself in an ugly, absurd scene between a warring couple. Ray is no angel. Often clueless, he is occasionally cruel, subject to the buffets of fate and capable of acts of spontaneous generosity. Wallace's ("Big Fish") rendering of him is sharp but empathetic, making his story compelling and real. The completeness of the vignettes sometimes leaves loose ends dangling, conveying the feeling that Ray has compartmentalized his life to avoid the mysteries of his own nature. The reverse structure reinforces this - showing how Ray got to where he ended up - not from a progression of events so much as the natural, halting, unknowable vicissitudes of one man's human nature.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, sad and beautifully written
Review: Ray Williams, the deceased protagonist of Daniel Wallace's tragicomic second novel, finds himself in Heaven's "Last Words" discussion group. Embarrassed by his prosaic death (from cancer at age 50) and his inconclusive final utterance, "I wish," he initially fabricates a more bloody and dramatic ending and, unmasked, storms off in a huff. His life then passes before us in a series of vignettes, beginning with his slow dying while the backyard birds make nests of his discarded hair and ending with an innocent act of simple heroism at age 10. Each chapter reveals an emotionally pivotal moment in Ray's life - his wife's infidelity and the near break-up of his marriage, the treehouse he built for his son and used himself as a drinking refuge, his sexual confusion, early relationships, one-night stands, childhood mysteries. The chapters are complete stories; some brief and poignant, some more complex, revealing harrowing secrets - jolting the reader and Ray too. Williams' comic touch is sometimes gentle, even sad, other times prickly and nightmarish. In one incident Ray hits a dog with his car and rather than driving on, stops, finds the dog's address from its tag and visits the animal's owners, thereby embroiling himself in an ugly, absurd scene between a warring couple. Ray is no angel. Often clueless, he is occasionally cruel, subject to the buffets of fate and capable of acts of spontaneous generosity. Wallace's ("Big Fish") rendering of him is sharp but empathetic, making his story compelling and real. The completeness of the vignettes sometimes leaves loose ends dangling, conveying the feeling that Ray has compartmentalized his life to avoid the mysteries of his own nature. The reverse structure reinforces this - showing how Ray got to where he ended up - not from a progression of events so much as the natural, halting, unknowable vicissitudes of one man's human nature.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, sad and beautifully written
Review: Ray Williams, the deceased protagonist of Daniel Wallace's tragicomic second novel, finds himself in Heaven's "Last Words" discussion group. Embarrassed by his prosaic death (from cancer at age 50) and his inconclusive final utterance, "I wish," he initially fabricates a more bloody and dramatic ending and, unmasked, storms off in a huff. His life then passes before us in a series of vignettes, beginning with his slow dying while the backyard birds make nests of his discarded hair and ending with an innocent act of simple heroism at age 10. Each chapter reveals an emotionally pivotal moment in Ray's life - his wife's infidelity and the near break-up of his marriage, the treehouse he built for his son and used himself as a drinking refuge, his sexual confusion, early relationships, one-night stands, childhood mysteries. The chapters are complete stories; some brief and poignant, some more complex, revealing harrowing secrets - jolting the reader and Ray too. Williams' comic touch is sometimes gentle, even sad, other times prickly and nightmarish. In one incident Ray hits a dog with his car and rather than driving on, stops, finds the dog's address from its tag and visits the animal's owners, thereby embroiling himself in an ugly, absurd scene between a warring couple. Ray is no angel. Often clueless, he is occasionally cruel, subject to the buffets of fate and capable of acts of spontaneous generosity. Wallace's ("Big Fish") rendering of him is sharp but empathetic, making his story compelling and real. The completeness of the vignettes sometimes leaves loose ends dangling, conveying the feeling that Ray has compartmentalized his life to avoid the mysteries of his own nature. The reverse structure reinforces this - showing how Ray got to where he ended up - not from a progression of events so much as the natural, halting, unknowable vicissitudes of one man's human nature.
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