PositiveThe Texas ObserverBowlaway treads what at first appears to be quirky, lighthearted territory, tracking the colorful characters who pass through a candlepin bowling alley ... [But] Bowlaway is mostly concerned with pain: how we inflict it on each other, and how we keep going, year after year, as our burdens pile up. If that sounds bleak, know that McCracken’s gift is to deliver that pain wrapped in astounding sentences and characters who leap off the page ... Much of the pleasure of Bowlaway lies in its poetry; the book is best read pen in hand, ready to underline standout sentences ... You don’t read a McCracken book for plot or speed, and I felt my attention start to lag about two-thirds through. Things pick up ... In the end, it may not be possible to bowl away sorrow, but it does help pass the time.
