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Shannon Olson looks for love in all the wrong places
A woman's journey to find peace with herself
Although the narrator, Shannon, (who shares the author's name) seems to be seeking love, she's really trying to accept herself and her life as she knows it. I bristle at the term "Chicklit" because this is not the stereotypical story of a single young woman in the big city with a job she hates and a series of bad dates. This is much more. This is about friendship and self-acceptance. This is about being happy with NOW. This is about the struggles, self-doubt and second-guessing anyone might go through.
Though the narrator's pickiness with others - her parents, her friends, her therapists, herself - may seem annoying to the impatient reader, she's really revealing the type of person she is. Bare with her and she'll make progress, I promise.
The writing style is smooth and injected with bursts of humor that had me almost spraying my beverage, much like Shannon herself. There are moments so touching and moving, I was glad nobody was in the room to witness me dabbing my eyes with Kleenex. And at one point, I was so immersed in the story that I had to stop reading and take a break just to shed the grief I was absorbing.
The title is unique, original and - rest assured - defined in the conclusion.
I did not read Olson's first book, so I was pleasantly surprised by the novel. There seems to be an emerging genre of books about single women in their 20's and 30's, growing older and growing desperate aobut finding a mate.
Olson's heroine bemoans her single status but otherwise her life seems to be working better than she realizes. She has a great job that seems to function on automatic pilot. (As a career coach, I can't help being amazed that *no* character experienced major job problems! Well, one character has a little stress, but he immediately changes jobs easily.)
Shannon's income allows her to move to a great apartment when one becomes available. She also manages to afford an amazing amount of therapy, which apparently occupies three evenings a week. She has "the counselor," a friendly woman who calls her "honey" and seems more like a big sister than a therapist. She adds a psychiatrist , who prescribes medication, and group therapy -- not, as the book jacket says, to find friends, but because "the counselor" thinks she's ready.
Shannon is surprised that the group has time to help her with furniture questions, but the group does seem more social than therapeutic.
One tragedy in the book does seem to undercut the comedic mood, but it's handled gracefully and optimistically. I'm reminded of the video God Said Ha. The discussion of religion ("Is it because he's a Lutheran?") are funny and add a deeper dimension to the book.
Shannon's counselor admonishes at the outset, "It's not all about you." Yet for a single marriage-centered woman, self-focus is not all that uncommon. I don't see Shannon as overly dependent: she has her apartment and job, and these days, that's doing really well.
Shannon's therapists ironically encouraged even more self-focus. I wish they'd told her to get a life -- develop a hobby, take classes -- rather than continue to look for a man in the most unlikely places. Her decision at the end of the book signals a new beginning. Of course, if she rebuilds her life and gets too together, we won't have a novel.
The author writes well and holds our interest, although the pace could be a bit faster and some of the subplots could be tightened. I got a little tired of Shannon's questions about her relationship with an old college friend (friends or lovers? are we or aren't we?) but didn't doubt the realism for a moment.
Anyway, being in much the same situation as Shannon (again, the character), I wanted to love this book. But it really stretched my patience! Still, there were some amusing sections that I did enjoy. Without those, this would have only received one star from me.
This book is so real and honest that it almost seems like you're finding out too much. By getting close to the characters, you're almost drawn into their world and are in on the action.
While it is a light, summer read, it's also very serious and dark, but still optimistic and positive. It really has quite a range as far as the emotions that it envokes in the reader, but it's not jumpy or convoluted.
Now, I must read Shannon Olson's first novel and will await many more of her books!
Accurate portrayal of life in Minnesota
A Satisfying Sequel to Welcome to My Planet
I have to say, I grew up in Chaska and went to the same high school as the author during the same era. I grew up Catholic and I also currently live in St. Paul (I don't know the author). It is so, so real to me. The humor is exactly what I gew up with. As well as the way her family relates to each other. It was actually a little scary. And all the landmarks were fun for me as well - from Chaska and from the cities. It just really spoke to me. It was so clear she was writing from her heart. I loved the optimism at the end. I really hope something else is coming along from Shannon. I'm married and have children and I still loved it.
Shannon Olson is back! (3/12 stars)
I honestly don't remember much about the first novel, only that I liked it, and I found some connections with the character also being single, and contemplating about marriage and children. Only, she is on the other side. I wonder about it, and she obsesses about it.
This character is very quirky and lonely, visiting her sister in Portland, hanging out with her mom (who is a very unique character, more like a sister) and passing the time with Ellie, her married friend, and Adam, her token-male friend from college who is also single.
You might think that not a lot goes on in this novel. You would be right. It's mainly about the introspections of her everyday life, the fact that she goes to McDonalds too much, or takes in too much TV. A lot of things she figures out are helped along by her counselor and group therapy sessions. She's extremely neurotic and insecure, focusing too much on herself (I wonder how autobiographical it is, knowing that the main characters first and last name are also the same as the authors.) She has a tendency to be irritating, but at the same time, her sarcastic, dry-biting humor got me to chuckle out loud a few times. It's not life-changing, but it's honest.
This book is for those readers who ever wonder what it would be like to change a friendship into something more, only for the friend in question to have a different perspective altogether. She also had a twist at the end that some people would not have seen coming.
Fun at times, looking forward to her next book.
Spirituality Through the Lens of Generation X
Smart, funny and very entertaining!
Another solid offering from Shannon Olson
Shannon Olson is now in her 30?s, she is still single and is not doing well on the dating scene (such as it is). Shannon has been in therapy for years, but it still unsure about herself in many ways. In part, this may be because of her relationship with her mother, Flo. In a way, this novel is like a funnier, less neurotic ?Cathy? (the comic strip). It is filled with interesting, memorable characters and was a joy to read. While I can?t say that I liked this one quite as much as ?Welcome to My Planet?, this was a nice light-weight, funny novel that rises above the mini-genre of ?chick lit?. I look forward to Shannon Olson?s (the author, not the character) next novel.
Marginally better than its precursor, but still trite
Also, don't even attempt to figure out how she makes enough money to indulgle herself in so much therapy...
Some episodes in the novel are indeed mildly entertaining, but again, it is all so banal. Even when a main character is diagnosed with terminal cancer does the story get much better. Supposedly such an event would lead the main character to experience some kind of existential struggles; however, any such "struggle" is diluted down to comparing the therapy value of various churches - labeling people around her as boring, uninspirational Catholics versus annoyingly uber-happy Lutherans sums up the extent to which her spiritual quest takes her...until the last chapter that is - which is the title of the book itself. And a phonier finale is hard to imagine...
Again, I have a hard time understanding why a character such as Shannon is so endearing to female readers. Is her trivial life really such a turn-on simply because some aspects of it resembles ones own? I read this novel as part of a bookclub reading assignment; however, I feel like I have nothing to discuss...yawn...
Bring on the hotdish (casserole)
Yes, I think Shanny and Mary are cut from the same cloth -- two smart, kind-hearted, thirty-something women who can never seem to meet "Mr. Right." In between tears of dismay, these two gals find resilience in a healthy sense of humor. Ellie is a blend of married Phyllis and buddy Rhoda, while Adam represents Mr. Grant, Murray and Ted all rolled into one. Shanny's parents are perhaps more like Rhoda's parents Ida and Martin, but I have to give a special nod to Shanny's Dad. "Flo" might get all the big press, and she certainly has a wacky martini personality, but I truly appreciate the quietly loving and loveable Dad. Although she refers to her mom constantly, I think Shanny is truly her father's daughter -- in sense and sensibility!
Having taken my hat off to Dr. Olson as a great dad, however, I have to warn the reader that the book is not a cheerful tale. As Shannon pursues a husband and happiness, she encounters a great deal of disappointment and heartache. Certainly, we are rooting for this brassy young lady as we follow her tale, but it never seems like she's going to get what she most desires. Of course wondering "why?" is what keeps single ladies busy, and their friends are what keep them going.
No review of "Children of God Go Bowling" would be complete without a nod to the intelligent writing that is so great to read. Our gal bemoans her dateless plight in this passage: Everyone else had a designated person, it seemed. Everyone else came as a Value Pack, two products of equal size, held tightly together in plastic. I was like a big bottle of lotion that came with a tiny trial size. Each date I went on was like another trail-size product. Fun to try, easy to toss away.
Later on, Shannon compares herself to the competition: Lucy had nothing to worry about. Clearly in the Darwinian survival game of dating and barhopping, she had opposable thumbs and was swinging vine to vine. I was some kind of sedentary land animal who nibbled on marshy plants and moved too slowly to avoid predators. Soon I would be extinct.
Anyone who can express herself so intelligently deserves a companion who admires her brain, right? That's my hope for Shannon!
Spend your money on a latte instead
She's a great professor and writer!
But it was really sad how Adam died, I really didnt think he was going to.
stop them all before they write again!
Create your own review
It's unfortunate that Olson's somewhat mawkish conclusion diminishes the first two-hundred pages of her novel. "Children" bristles with anger, frustration and subterranean hope, as the protagonist Shannon, aided by two understated, quirky and compassionate therapists, battles her domineering mother and wrestles with a nagging and seemingly perpetual sense of loneliness. Her mother, Flo, casts an omnipresent shadow over Shannon's life. If the daughter speaks openly about her sadness, her mother dismisses it as insignificant compared to her troubles. When Shannon determines to break away and establish the boundaries necessary for a healthy relationship between an adult daughter and her mother, Flo bemoans being cast aside. Ever sharp-tongued, Flo criticizes Shannon's wardrobe, mocks her eating habits (McDonald's comes in for special ridicule), disparages her apartment and demeans her career. In so doing, Flo is never so happy as when she can, with a passive-aggressive quip, micromanage Shannon's life.
As both siblings and friends marry and create families, Shannon is left ever more aware of her freak-like status as a single woman. Her constant companion, Adam, confuses her; is he just a "friend," or does his constant presence signify something greater. Readers quickly recognize that Adam fulfills the identical psychological functions Flo satisfies. Fastidious, proper and anal, Adam happily offers to organize Shannon's closet, including alphabetizing and paper-clipping mounds of debris Shannon refers to as paperwork. What is apparent to readers is obscure to Shannon, who never seems to muster the temerity to openly question Adam about the nature of their relationship.
Shannon's despair is always tinctured with humor. When her therapist, Dr. Douglas, whom Shannon believes receives inspiration from such diverse television resources as ESPN and the History Channel, asks about what she does with her spare time, she responds that "the only pieces of equipment required for my favorite hobbies" are "the remote control and the credit card." Dr. Douglas suggests she "leave the nest and explore the richness of life;" to Shannon, "life had proven to be a big, fat artery-clogging vat of hollandaise sauce." She's a shy, slightly-overweight Minnesota Catholic in a land of svelte Lutherans, where "quality" people are those who aren't "kind of different."
Shannon's failures are endearing, and she is undaunted by setbacks in her persistent quest for companionship and happiness. She's quite the opposite of the glamorized New York City single woman; there's no "sex-in-the-city" for this protagonist...just drive-through meals and doing laundry with her carping mother. Shannon Olson's anguish is not spectacular, but persistent, not energizing, but energy-sapping. Yet she never stops looking for love. The author, Shannon Olson, should have been content to leave her namesake in that earnest, quietly humorous quest rather than give her some answers in a contrived conclusion. When the protagonist finally picks up a bowling ball in the novel's conclusion, we are pretty well tipped off if she's going to roll a gutter ball or a strike.