Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Publisher's Summary

Audie Award Finalist, Teens, 2014

In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was - that I couldn't stick around - and that what's going to happen today isn't their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting audiobook, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made - and the light in us all that never goes out.

©2013 Matthew Quick (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Required reading for humans

This is a beautiful, gut-wrenching book. It's wonderfully written and very well performed. It's a first person narrative, and so successfully performed that I have no trouble believing that I've been listening to Leonard Peacock himself reading his story, backed up by the other characters who speak through him.

First, the story: I've never read anything by Matthew Quick before. In fact, I wouldn't normally even try a story about a suicidal (and possibly homicidal) teenager. But Quick's writing is full of honesty, clarity, poetry and humanity, and the character of Leonard is so well drawn and interesting that I found myself not wanting him to kill himself because the world needs people like Leonard Peacock in it; and I want to meet Leonard and know him.

And now I'm wondering if the paragraph I just wrote will look good in my college application. (Read the book and you'll know why I said that.)

Because just for the record ... and for my college application ... I wouldn't have wanted him to commit suicide even if he was a spectacularly unlikeable person.

Everything in the story is emotionally real, for good and ill. Quick is obviously an insightful and empathetic observer of people. His writing is full of compassion, but never glides over the messy bits, even when part of me wanted him to.

Second, the narration: Just absolutely perfect. The different voices are distinguished nicely, with each character (male and female) given distinctiveness and believability but without sounding forced or like caricatures. But mostly, the voice is Leonard's, and it's completely believable and good to listen to. Even if Noah Galvin is a middle-aged, cigar-chomping rodeo announcer in real life, to me he will forever be a teenage boy from New Jersey.

Finally, the recommendation: Read the book (well, listen to the book). You'll laugh. You'll cry. You may have to stop to write down a few words and phrases (I did), or to look up a few historical facts (Walt Disney was a Nazi sympathizer, who knew?) And if you're paying any attention at all to what's going on in Leonard's head, you'll be a better person when you're done.

Oh, and you may feel the urge to watch Casablanca a few times as well.

46 of 48 people found this review helpful

Difficult ... Beautiful ... Raw

STORY (teenage fiction) - Leonard Peacock plans to shoot himself today, after he says goodbye to four people who are very important to him. You will be "in the head" of this troubled teen as he goes to school that last day, his 18th birthday, with a gun in his backpack. You will learn what's important to him and what isn't, who he loves and who he hates, and ultimately why he's planning to take his own life. Throughout the day Leonard (who's very intelligent) talks about Hamlet, Humphrey Bogart, the Holocaust, atheism, his first kiss, same-sex relations and why he wants to shoot his ex-best friend before turning the gun on himself.

This book was beautifully written. You will feel sorry for Leonard, but at the same time you will root for him to see and embrace his own strengths. The day you spend inside Leonard's head is not overdramatized or predictable. To the contrary, it feels very real. (The author gives credit to multiple mental health professionals who reviewed the book for authenticity). In the end the message is clear: Never lose sight of the light. Things will get better!

PERFORMANCE - I don't know how old this narrator was, but he did a great job of performing the complex feelings and emotions of 18-year-old Leonard Peacock. Other characters were performed equally as well.

OVERALL - I'd recommend this book to all males/females high school age and older. Teachers, parents, students, kids who are picked on or depressed, class bullies -- there's something for everyone to learn here. Some sexual situations are described, and there is some cursing.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Don't do it, Leonard!" I shouted.

I cried. And I actually found myself shouting out loud. That's how compelling this book is. All of the other reviewers have eloquently reported what an astounding book this is and the 5 star ratings are absolutely deserved. (If only we could give 6.) This author and the narrator are new revelations to me. What a gift. Do not pass up this book.

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

I'd like to buy the world a coke (and this book)

The author that gave us that warm-puppy of a novel, The Silver Linings Playbook, once again has us malleable putty in his compassionate hands. Quick has proven to be a novelist with some insight into those behaviors that sometimes prevent us from seeing the humanity that lies beneath them. In spite of the straight forward set up (you could almost say manipulative in the nicest way) he has the ability to make us challenge our comfortable conceptions and crank our necks a little harder to get a wider view, and as a reader, that interaction impresses me.

I worked with hundreds of Leonard Peacocks in my profession; kids struggling to communicate beyond their hurt in a world that seems to make no sense to them. My background challenges my objectivity rating this book, but I can say that it is one of the better books I've read describing a particular troubled teen's thought process, so I'll approach this rating from that POV. It does that with sympathy and authenticity, with some excellent insight that has been very responsibly supported by several professionals (noted in the epilogue). On the other hand, I also worked with the kids that were locked up during their therapeutic hospitalization to prevent them from carrying out pure evil -- and that is apples to these oranges. This is not a textbook about personality disorders, or a fictionalized look into the mind of Columbine-like attackers at all. I doubt (I hope) Quick intended this border-line warm-fuzzy book to examine behaviors on that level, and it would be a naïve disservice to lump this into such a category.

This is a heart-touching look at one of those *troubled oddballs*. As Leonard counts down the hours to carrying out what he feels is a necessary catastrophe, his narration reminded me of a similar confused and misplaced childish bravado...
"The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another, his mother called him "WILD THING!" and Max said "I'LL EAT YOU UP!" [Where The Wild Things Are; Maurice Sendak]
There's obvious pain and confusion beneath Leonard Peacock's words.

Reviewer L. Gutzman said he thought this should be required reading--a wonderful sentiment that would makes us all a little more aware and compassionate. This is a great story -- ignore the NY Times glass-half-empty mention of this book making a *social commentary* and just value, maybe even share, the view the story leaves you with. You'll be a wiser and kinder person.

40 of 46 people found this review helpful

THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE. AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!

I think this book should be mandatory reading for ALL high school students. I was Leonard Peacock. If I read this book back when I was in school giong through all of the nonsense that kids go through this book could have saved me. I loved loved loved this book. It's an excellent read for bully's and the kids that suffer from being bullied alike. I highly recommend this book. It's mostly just an incredibly inspiring story of never giving up hope, because things really do get better.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

I WANT TO ADOPT LEONARD PEACOCK!

Would you listen to Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock again? Why?

i don't re-listen to any books, as a rule. but i might do just that at some point.
it was just captivating.

What does Noah Galvin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he MADE the listen! one of the best narrations i've heard.

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

absolutely!

Any additional comments?

i didn't want it to end.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

You're Forgiven, Leonard Peacock

What can I say about this novel? Completely moving. It was everything I had hoped for in a book. Detailing the psyche of a tormented young man, Matthew Quick addresses what few people in this country do. It truly sheds light on a lot of systems in this country - like the mental health system, school systems, familial relationships, etc. This needs to be a book that every young adult reads - so that they know that they are not alone in their feelings and emotions; and also to shed light on the consequences of our interactions with one another, especially during the critical developing years of our lives. Kudos to Matthew Quick! And to all of you Leonard Peacock's out there - we have heard you!

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

A YA book adults can get into.

Poor Leonard Peacock. Leonard is a depressed and troubled teen who has reached his limit. He has crappy parents, issues with his former best friend and is worried that life isn't going to get better. All the adults he sees seem to be unhappy and what is the point of becoming one if life isn't going to look up at some point. The book begins with Leonard telling the readers that it's his birthday and he is going to kill his former best friend and then shoot himself. In addition to the gun in his backpack, he has four gifts for the people he cares for. As the book progresses and Leonard gives his gifts, truths are revealed. We get to see exactly why Leonard wants to shoot his best friend and himself.

I thought that Matthew Quick created a smart and, in the end, hopeful character with Leonard. He makes Leonard a believable teenager, albeit a very intense and intelligent one. This book is dark and depressing, but I think that's ok considering the issues Leonard faces… even though it felt a bit extreme at times. As stated before, Leonard does have people he cares about and who care about him: Walt, his neighbor, and Herr Silverman, his teacher. I really liked the dialogue and relationship between Leonard and Walt. I thought it was very creative for Quick to use Humphrey Bogart movies as a way for them to relate and talk with each other. I also thought it was smart on Quick's part to show teenagers that teachers are real people that can be trusted. In the end, I think all Leonard wanted was to know that someone cared about him and that life would or could get better.

Young adult books are not my go-to genre and I don't tend to enjoy them as much as other books I read. I did find "Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock" to rise above the rest and Galvin narrated Leonard in a believable way.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Powerful and beautifully written story

Often being the odd one out, I connected with Leonard in way I didn't expect. I came to love him as if he were my own.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great book

First off, I loved the narrator. Great job on his part.

This book was really good. I'll admit it's hard for me to focus when listening to an audio book, I zone out alot. But when listening to Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, I didn't want to miss a moment. I finished it in two days because I couldn't stop listening to it. It deals with feelings that teens and adults alike can relate to, being lonely, feeling like no one cares. Things I've dealt with in my life, and I feel like the author really captured all of those things and put them into a character who, despite his flaws and darkness, I really enjoyed. All in all, I really liked the book. It's worth a read.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful