Matthew Quick
The Silver Linings Playbook
Picador USA
289 pages
6.7
Blurb
The Silver Linings Playbook is the riotous and poignant story of how one man regains his memory and comes to terms with the magnitude of his wife’s betrayal.
During the years he spends in a neural health facility, Pat Peoples formulates a theory about silver linings: he believes his life is a movie produced by God, his mission is to become physically fit and emotionally supportive, and his happy ending will be the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. When Pat goes to live with his parents, everything seems changed: no one will talk to him about Nikki; his old friends are saddled with families; the Philadelphia Eagles keep losing, making his father moody; and his new therapist seems to be recommending adultery as a form of therapy.
When Pat meets the tragically widowed and clinically depressed Tiffany, she offers to act as a liaison between him and his wife, if only he will give up watching football, agree to perform in this year’s Dance Away Depression competition, and promise not to tell anyone about their “contract.” All the while, Pat keeps searching for his silver lining.
In this brilliantly written debut novel, Matthew Quick takes us inside Pat’s mind, deftly showing us the world from his distorted yet endearing perspective. The result is a touching and funny story that helps us look at both depression and love in a wonderfully refreshing way.
Review
Many people think Jennifer Lawrence's winning Oscar for Best Actress has caused several polemics as they think her acting and work in Silver Linings Playbook just really over-the-top and not genuine. But, sometimes I question whether they have read the book or not. Tiffany is indeed an over-the-top female characters, and Lawrence has done her job quite perfectly.
The Silver Linings Playbook does not meet my expectation, though. It is not a bad book, of course. But, I wish it will be more preposterous and jocular, with funny moments here and there. But, that does not prove that Quick is a bad writer. The idea of having bipolar characters meet each other may seem grim, but Quick has mixed it in particular way that The Silver Linings Playbook is a light and sunny, just like a silver lining.
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