Attention All Authors; How to get me to pick your book off the library shelf:

First, make sure that the title on the spine is nice and easy to read. If I can’t tell what book it is or who wrote it it’s unlikely that I’ll want to read it. Second, a nice, unobtrusive color could be helpful. Third, it doesn’t hurt to be an author I’ve heard of and/or alphabetically next to and author I (or Oprah) have heard of. I know it sounds shallow…but sometimes I do pick a book by its cover!

My latest read, aaa|Ray in Reverse|0142000094|aaa, by Daniel Wallace, was chosen because, a) it was in a spot where I could see the front cover, and b) was billed as, “by the author of Big Fish“. I loved the movie Big Fish and figured that another story by the same author would be just as good.

It was good. An easy read, it only took me one day (two train rides) to finish it. The novel tells the story of Ray’s life, you got it, in reverse. The first chapter starts in Heaven and you gradually work backwards through his life back to his childhood.

Ray’s life is not spectacular. The events that are highlighted throughout his life could have happened to anyone. They may have happened to you. What makes this book special is the way that Wallace takes these mundane events and adds in fanciful details. At one point Ray is suffering from Cancer and as he deals with the fact that he will die he comments that he is growing wings. He can even feel them poking out from behind his shoulders.

There may be nothing extra special about Ray or his life, but Wallace has turned him into an interesting character.