For many college students, age 30 is still quite a way off. However hazily, we hope that, at the very least, we will have rewarding careers and attractive significant others. After all, didn't even the graceless Bridget Jones manage to snag Colin Firth as well as a cool job in television?
However, the \semifictional"" heroine of Shannon Olson's novel ""Children of God Go Bowling"" injects a healthy dose of despair into the idealistic dream. Readers follow this heroine, also named Shannon, as she jumps from session to session with her counselor, psychiatrist and therapy group. The 33-year-old Minnesotan protagonist has a lot to deal with, given her insane mother, claustrophobic apartment and lack of decent dates, but her intense self-scrutiny becomes tiring about halfway through the novel.
Shannon's story begins as she visits her sister, a new mother. Though Shannon sings comforting nonsense songs about Doritos to the new baby and dreams about becoming the cool aunt, she experiences several bizarre physical reactions that she only later learns are anxiety attacks. As most of her friends are married and her parents are more concerned about crab cakes than their daughter's crises, Shannon can only rely on therapy sessions and herself to overcome this loneliness.
Taking control of her life begins with her apartment. As the vast majority of her furniture belongs to an ex-lover who relocated to Italy and met someone else, Shannon moves and starts anew. After her millionth bad date, she also considers adjusting her relationship mindset. She begins to wonder if her close male friend from college could be the soul mate she has been missing all along. However, when a loved one gets cancer, new questions plague Shannon about the importance of religion, family, relationships, and finding oneself.
This is the second book in a series, after the critically acclaimed ""Welcome to My Planet"" in which Shannon and the other characters made their debut. The Chicago Tribune calls ""Children of God Go Bowling"" ""charming, uproarious and poignant,"" but it seems a more depressing appraisal of human self-absorption than a light, amusing read. Though the themes of the book are pertinent and interesting, Shannon's self-examinations and disdain for others make her dangerously close to unlikable. Her saving grace is her sense of humor in describing her life, including her impractical mother (who drives in traffic like ""a blind speed skater on crack"") and slew of useless dates (aptly compared to Old Country Buffet: ""tepid, lamp-warmed, greasy, convenient, heartburn-inducing"").
Shannon is also honest, if nothing else. She readily admits when her dying friend leads her to uncover another deep-seated issue about herself, but by this time the reader may already be weary of her egotism. Because of her lack of empathy, the other characters are quirky and entertaining but don't hold any true substance. Conversely, the plot meanders and twists in a way that suggests real life. Though the happy ending of the book is a bit too forced, it is probably necessary to stop readers from wanting to give up on life altogether. For anyone with a real fear of aging and future unhappiness, perhaps it is a better idea to stay far away from Shannon and opt for the more fortunate thirty-somethings like Bridget Jones instead.
