“Stewart presents readers with a dynamite coming-of-age story. Backwoods without calling anyone backward, the author’s offbeat humor keeps the heavy subjects of death and poverty from becoming maudlin or bleak ... 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