BOOK REVIEW | THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK BY MATTHEW QUICK

"I don't want to stay in the bad place, where no one believes in silver linings or love or happy endings."
- Matthew Quick (The Silver Linings Playbook)

Title: Silver Linings Playbook
Author: Matthew Quick
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Pages: 289
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 
Published: October 16, 2012 (First published 2008)
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780374533571
Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

Meet Pat. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him -- the return of his estranged wife Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat's now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he's being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he's being hunted by Kenny G!

In this enchanting novel, Matthew Quick takes us inside Pat's mind, showing us the world from his distorted yet endearing perspective. As the award-winning novelist Justin Cronin put it: "Tender, soulful, hilarious, and true, The Silver Linings Playbook is a wonderful debut."
 
My Review
Awww. Pat! You just feel for him in this story. He struggles with a mental illness and you just follow him through his journey of accepting reality and finding his silver lining. 

It's a great story. Something so real, you feel Pat's heartache as he starts putting the pieces of his life back together after an incident that caused him to be hospitalized and finally released into the care of his mother. 

It's a family struggle. It's about learning to look at life and appreciating what you have and dealing with things. There isn't always a happy ending, and Pat is realizing that his life isn't going as planned. He compares it to the movies, and he's waiting for apart time to be over with his wife, he realized some things.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was funny, it was sad, and there were little miracles. It was exciting to get to see the world through Pat's eyes! One of my favorites this year.