Meet Pat Peoples.

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 him a happy ending—the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent several years 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 haunted by Kenny G!

The mentally unstable Pat Peoples was just released from a mental institution, but to be free, Pat had to agree to goes to therapy with a doctor of choice. We don’t get to know how long Pat was on the clinic, neither what made he be there. What we fell through the eyes of Pat himself is a underlying mental illness that seem to cloud his life.

What Pat wants the most is to be free to find his wife, Nikki, again. It seems so long since the last time he saw her, and all he wants is to be back in her arms, after all, he loves her. But everyone shy away from the very mention of her name, and he doesn’t know why. When he rekindles his friendship with Ronnie, he mets his sister-in-law, Tiffany, an also strange girl who needs a dance partner, a position where Pat finds himself.

Silver Linings Playbook was both a good reading and a disappointment. I expected to be more engaged by the narrative, but I found myself losing the focus, and Pat less than linear point of view didn’t help as the pages went. Pat is often in awe of another people actions, in a childlike kind of way, and that’s a good way to put a character like him in the story. But his sometimes cold feelings about the situations made me dislike his awe moments.

Tiffany also oscilatted in the narrative. Sometimes strong and powerful, another times as a spoiled brat. I found myself reading some chapters in an automatic mode, just to get through the down chapters, as I knew the characters would be back to what they were. This has a reason, I know, but this made this book a little stressful for me.

While the reading was really fast, I can’t say that Silver Linings Playbook had all of me. The characters, the most important part of this book, were plain to me, not involving me enough. When I thought the story would grow on me, Pat or Tiffany went down in my eyes, and this kind of “up and down” narrative don’t really appeal me.

It’s not a bad book, it’s just an okay book. I wanted to see the movie before the review, to see how I would like this on the screen, but if I waited, this one would be online in a long time. I still want to see the movie, as I fear what became of Tiffany on Jennifer’s hands. If you went to the movie already, let me know what you think.

Author: Matthew Quick
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre(s): Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
Publication date: September 2, 2008
Pages: 289
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