Book Review: The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my to-read list ever since I saw trailers for the film back in 2012. The film really looked my kind of thing and as I always have a book before film rule I waited.
I wish I'd read this book sooner. The Silver Linings Playbook is simply one of the best books I have read for a long time. I finished it in two nights, last night staying up until half four. It somehow manages to be heart warming and funny despite dealing with difficult subjects.
The main character and narrator is Pat Peoples, who has recently been released from a mental institution into his mother's care. A few things are apparent at this stage, he did something awful to end up in the 'bad place' and it's related to his wife Nikki. Nikki is Pat's world. He will do anything to reconcile with her and end 'apart time' (read, restraining order). He reads the books that she teaches as part of her English syllabus and mostly he tried to be a good person and do what is right. He always looks for the silver lining in everything and believes his life is like a movie and therefore he will get his happy ending, because everybody gets their happy ending.
It's fair to say Pat is an unreliable narrator, but despite this he is likeable and provides the reader with an insight into mental illness, something in this day and age people still seem afraid to talk about.
His family and friends provide a menagerie of characters. His Mum is clearly the person he relies on the most. She is kind and caring and does everything she can to support her son. I like that she becomes more assertive during the story. His father is a mean, rude, grump who only seems to lighten up when his beloved Eagles win a game. His brother Jake and friend Ronnie provide 'manly backup' and his therapist Cliff, an Indian man who is also a fan of the Eagles is a great character helping him come to the right decisions on his own.
Then there is a Tiffany, a woman who is just as troubled as he is. Her husband passed away and she is left a widow, severely depressed and aiming to overcome this by having lots of random sex.
The characters are real and sympathetic and provide a great back up to Pat's story.
One of the thing's I didn't really enjoy about this book was the constant reference to football. I'm British and not a sports fan of any kind so I didn't particularly care about it, although I know it symbolises commitment to something, and for Pat's father and brother it's a family event, a time when they all come together.
There are lots of things within this book that surprised me but I don't want to give anything away as I want every reader to be just as shocked as I was. It really represented what mental illness can do to your life and those around you. That it doesn't simply affect one person. But with the right help things can become better.
I was disappointed at the end that not everything came together neatly, and then I realised that was the whole point. Matthew Quick's book is supposed to show the reader that life is not like a movie, we don't walk off into the sunset and that's okay as long as we appreciate what we've got.

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