The Silver Linings Playbook

A Novel

By: Matthew Quick

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times bestseller, The Silver Linings Playbook was adapted into the Oscar-winning movie starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

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, an enchanting first novel about love, madness, and Kenny G.

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. The problem is that Pat is now home, living with his parents, and everything seems off; 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, physically fit, and clinically depressed Tiffany, she offers to act as a liaison between him and his wife, but only if 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.

©2008 Matthew Quick (P)2008 Blackstone Audio

Critic reviews

"This offbeat story has all the markings of a crowd-pleaser." ( Publishers Weekly)

Book vs. Movie

I first saw the movie, then read the book. The book is 10x better!!!

Engaging and Original

An engaging and original story.
The characters are well developed.
An entertaining listen.
I recommend.

There Are Silver Linings

Where does The Silver Linings Playbook rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audiobook ranks at 3.

What other book might you compare The Silver Linings Playbook to and why?

This audiobook was so different from anything else I have listened to it is hard to find a comparison. However, the closest similarity is Charles Martin "When Crickets Cry".

What about Ray Porter’s performance did you like?

I really liked his overall performance. He kept each character separate by slightly changing his tone and pitch. Porter made each character stand apart.

If you could take any character from The Silver Linings Playbook out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would take the main character Pat Peoples out to dinner. He was disconnected from reality to the point that he was willing to think his wife still loved him and wanted to be married to him. Through it all he saw the glass half full.

I've never said this before, but...

...the movie was better.

Immediately after watching the movie, I got on Audible to buy the book. Most of the reviews I read said the book was so much richer and more detailed than the movie. I couldn't wait to listen to it. But I found that I didn't like it as much. First, anything is better with Bradley Cooper. Second, the characters were so much harder to like in the book, especially the father and Tiffany.

I'm not at all disappointed that I listened to the book, though. I'm not saying it was in any way bad. Just not as good as the movie. And the narrator did a fantastic job.

Love LOVE LOVE

Would you consider the audio edition of The Silver Linings Playbook to be better than the print version?

Absolutely

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Silver Linings Playbook?

The dance performance

What about Ray Porter’s performance did you like?

Great!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. And I could not wait to get back to listening. Very sad when it ended

Any additional comments?

Soooooooo Goooood!

wow

quite a story.
it doesn't give itself away too easily.
it is a detailed glinpse into the mind and family of one suffering with mental illness. but not all bleak, it shows that life really is, what you make it.

Very Enjoyable

This was one of the first audible books I have listened to. The story was great kept my attention. I couldnt wait to get back to it. The narration was pleasant to listen to. I would reccommend this book. (there is some foul language, that may offend some, but it goes along with the story line well)

A remarkable achievement.

Matthew Quick has accomplished several amazing things here, and it's really hard to list them all. First, he has documented the nature of mental illness in general and bipolar disorder in fine detail, the first book (in my experience) to do this in novel form. Second, he has drawn a terrific, touching love story between two people who are both fragile and suffering from loss. They are both determined, nonetheless, to find the "silver linings" in life. Three, he has depicted a suffering family which is trying to cope with a deeply disturbed, isolated and enraged father. Fourth, he has portrayed the love story between a community and its football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. The passion that the fans have for their team is almost unimaginable in its ferocity, a love that many men understand and many women cannot. If you are a woman, just think of sports as male emotionality. Fifth (I am counting) he has depicted a very unusual relationship between a therapist and his patient. Cliff, the psychiatrist who follows Pat after his four-year involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital, is also a raving Eagles fan, who delights in jumping out of his chair and doing the Eagles chant. When Pat is puzzled by this (as who wouldn't be), Cliff says, "When I sit in this chair, I am your therapist. When I get out of this chair, I am your friend and fellow Eagles fan." Can you imagine any psychiatrist, if you know any, who could do such a thing?
I have lost track of all that Mr. Quick has done here, but, trust me, it is an awe-inspiring thing. For one in the profession (I am a psychologist), it is all the more astounding. That the book works so well on all of these levels, and more, is just a pleasure. I think Mr. Quick is a young author, and I hope we will hear more from him.
Mr. Porter does a great job with this challenging material. Serious mental illness is frightening, and both these men have done a wonderful job of conveying the torment that these patients suffer. Even so, the book is uplifting. If you have seen the movie, you know that it is wonderful as well, but it is quite different.. A movie has much different rules than a book, and it just can't convey the richness of this work of fiction. The book may be hard to listen to at times, as Mr. Quick does not pull any punches, so just put it down for a while and then come back to it. The book and the movie combined have contributed to the process of destigmatizing mental illness, which is all very much to the good. I am preaching here, so I will stop. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

Near Perfection

I have to say I saw the movie first. Loved it. The book is much better.

Listening to Silver Linings gave me a different take on the story. I thought that Jennifer Lawrence deserved the Oscar for playing Tiffany in the movie, but the character here is a lot deeper in the book.

The manner in which this book is written is beautiful. Humor and love pushes out of every sentence. Pat, the protagonist, is a man who has lost a few years due to being up to the gills in drugs while in a mental home. He comes home and rediscovers life.

Pat's home with his mom and dad, dealing with his past, coming to terms with whom he is. A myriad of characters so fully developed you feel that you are with family come to life. This book is just pure awesome.

If you like this book, I recommend the classic Russo book 'Nobody's Fool'.

Not my Favorite

This is a basic love story hampered by a few reoccurring problems. It's Nicholas Sparks with some sports references and a mental illness arc. My biggest issue was that the main character's mental illness is not so much a characteristic as a plot device. Does he need to have slight amnesia so that the books big reveal remains hidden? Done. Does he need to have a child-like thought process to make him endearing and/or propel the story forward? Done. But his illness is at odds with the other aspects of his character. It seemed a lot less like mental illness and more like stupidity that the author employed as a convenient plot device. The other issue was the prevalent sports theme. While I am not a sports fan and feel that this may have to do with why it irked me, I genuinely disapproved of the manic, frenzied sports mentality that consumed most of the characters. I was fine until it seemed again to be less of a contributing factor to the actual story and more anecdotal filler used at random by the author. And finally, on more than one occasion I felt that I was suspending my disbelief to the point of exhaustion. Another coincidence, another glaring pothole that the reader saw coming from a mile away but none of the characters did, another "but wait how did she know..." or "how in the world did he not know??" because a large portion of the unknown is so obvious that its cliche. I thought I'd put this down once I had reached the middle, because to be honest I just didn't care about the characters or the story and I could see what every character couldn't from an hour in. But a lapse in downloading another book led me to finish it, and it ended as lackluster as I suspected. I would recommend this only if you're a sucker for any sort of love story, and possibly if you're an Eagles fan. Other than that don't bother. Of course I am one negative review amongst a ton of positive, so I could just have awful taste....