Book Review: The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Summary:
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."

Review:
The funny thing about this book is that I loved the movie way more. That never happens, but there you go. The book was still good enough for me to read to the end and there were parts that I enjoyed, but I just didn't get into it the way I did the movie.

I think for me one of the problems is that I just don't like football all that much and football is a huge part of the book. And the book didn't have that same humourous, up front approach to mental illness that I appreciated in the movie. Unfortunately, I just didn't care about the main character all that much -- which is too bad because I wanted to.

I feel kind of bad comparing the book to the movie so much, but it is hard not to because my expectations were raised, having seen the movie first. This just wasn't the book for me.