The Good Luck of Right Now

By: Matthew Quick

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Call it fate...

Call it synchronicity...

Call it an act of God...

Call it…The Good Luck of Right Now.

For 38 years, Bartholomew Neil has lived with his mother. When she gets sick and dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His redheaded grief counselor, Wendy, says he needs to find his flock and leave the nest. But how does a man whose whole life has been grounded in his mom, Saturday Mass, and the library learn how to fly?

Bartholomew thinks he's found a clue when he discovers a "Free Tibet" letter from Richard Gere hidden in his mother's underwear drawer. In her final days, Mom called him Richard - there must be a cosmic connection. Believing that the actor is meant to help him, Bartholomew awkwardly starts his new life by writing Richard Gere a series of letters. Jung and the Dalai Lama, philosophy and faith, alien abduction and cat telepathy, the Catholic Church and the mystery of women, are all explored in his soul-baring epistles. But mostly the letters reveal one man's heartbreakingly earnest attempt to assemble a family of his own.

A struggling priest; a "Girlbrarian"; her feline-loving, foul-mouthed brother; and the spirit of Richard Gere join the quest to help Bartholomew. In a rented Ford Focus, they travel to Canada to see the Cat Parliament and find Bartholomew's biological father…and discover so much more.

©2014 Matthew Quick (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

Critic Reviews

"Thanks to Oliver Wyman's extraordinary performance, this novel should be savored in audio.... One can only pity the poor print reader." ( AudioFile)

"[A]nother offbeat gem populated with eccentric, fallible, intensely human characters." ( Booklist)

"A quirky coming-of-age story…. Quick writes with an engaging intimacy, capturing his narrator’s innocence and off-kilter philosophy, and the damaged souls in orbit around him." ( Publishers Weekly)

AMAZING

This was easily the best book I've read (well, listened to) in recent memory. The words are tender, humorous, thought-provoking, quirky, and positive. Bartholomew Neil is an kind and innocent man, likely on the autism spectrum, who has lived through some unspeakably sad events. The book opens up with him in the wake of his mothers death and chronicles his healing process in series of letters to (who else?) Richard Gere. Bartholomew's pain is so beautifully tragic and is foiled through supporting characters including a physically abused grief counselor, alcoholic priest, introverted librarian, and potty-mouth who is grieving the loss of his cat. While I actively cried at multiple parts of this book, I left the reading feeling an overwhelming sense of positivity. I had previously enjoyed Silver Linings and enjoyed the similarities of these two novels (i.e., healing after loss, quirky characters, Philly grit), but feel as though this book was far superior.

The narration was the best I've heard in my history of Audible and will become the standard by which I measure future audiobooks. I am SO happy I *listened* to this book and cannot imagine my brain would be able to bring the characters to life the way Mr. Wyman did.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Synchronicity!

Matthew Quick’s latest book, The Good Luck of Right Now, is a coming of age about a man learning to live on his own after his mother’s death. Bartholomew is pushing 40 but has missed a lot of social milestones, like making friends, having a drink with a girl at a bar, or getting a job. He’s working on his personal growth strategy by writing letters to Richard Gere, an actor his mother admired.

Like Quick’s other books, The Good Luck of Right Now is offbeat and filled with quirky characters, with a focus on mental health, religion, and personal discovery. It’s happy, sad, heartwarming, strange, and very entertaining.

Bartholomew Neil’s story plays out through his letters to Richard Gere. He spends his time going to church, talking with family friend, the recently “defrocked” Father McNamee, and studying up on Buddhism at the library. His crush on the “Girlbrarian” is another reason that Bartholomew needs a lot of study time.

Bartholomew also has an angry voice inside of him that eats at him and he has a lot to work through. Bartholomew’s grief counselor wants him to work on his self-improvement goals, and to be more independent. He meets a kindred spirit at a support group. Max is grieving his beloved cat, and his Tourette’s means the f-word appears almost every other word in his scenes. In what Bartholomew would call synchronicity, it turns out Max is the girlbrarian’s brother.

The action shifts from Philadelphia to Canada when the group of misfits leave town on an important cat/dad finding mission.

The title plays very much into the philosophy of the story, and refers to the flip side of bad luck. Bad, terrible things occur to the characters in the book, and Bartholomew’s mother taught him to put a positive spin on bad luck. Maybe their bad luck means someone else will have good fortune. It’s a theme that comes up time and again.

Oliver Wyman does an outstanding job with the audiobook narration, and really inhabits the characters. His Bartholomew is kind and sincere, but Wyman also brings that angry voice to life as well. I also really enjoyed his voice for the cat obsessed, foul-mouthed Max. The book is so cinematic in feel like Quick’s Silver Linings Playbook and benefits from Wyman’s skilled narration.

Though this book is written with an adult audience in mind, I think that it definitely has YA appeal, with its unconventional coming of age story. I really liked this offbeat story, and since there is a movie in the works, I’m already trying to cast it in my head. I hope Richard Gere makes a cameo at least! If you like quirky, heartwarming books about road trips, mental illness, and self-discovery, or Matthew Quick’s other books, this one might be right up your alley.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

An inspiring belief

Where does The Good Luck of Right Now rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've enjoyed Matthew quick ,he is a brilliant writer . This book will probably be a favorite in my ranking.

What other book might you compare The Good Luck of Right Now to and why?

This book reminds me of silver linings playbook cause it's about an adult male learning to cope with being alone.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Winters tale is the other book I've heard him narrate with such depiction and dramatic interpretation . I can't really compare.

Who was the most memorable character of The Good Luck of Right Now and why?

The part that really was the storyline about the main characters incredible gift.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

The Good Luck of my Finding this Book!

Matthew Quick is now one of my favorite authors. I loved 3 of the 4 books of his that audible has available. This book is his best in my opinion and the others were outstanding as well. The theme is interesting, the characters are so well developed. They are quirky and endearing. In parts of the book, the dialogue was so funny and clever I found myself laughing out loud. The most disappointing part of the book was that it had to end.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Sweet story full of quirky people

This book was excellent as an audiobook in large part because of the narrator. But it's a great story full of quirky people trying to make sense of their lives . Underneath is the general theme that the stories we tell about the meaning of our lives should not be evaluated for truth as much as for how kind they make us.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great book!

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was my first but I want to hear more! I have already started to shop for more of his reads. Wonderful job!

If you could take any character from The Good Luck of Right Now out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Although she is fictional and a dead fictional character at that, I would love to eat dinner with Mrs. Neil. I found her to be surprisingly strong and positive. I loved her theories on life. I wish I could have been at here 60th birthday dinner, even for the clean up.

Any additional comments?

I'm a Matthew Quick fan ever since I read Boy 21. I might be a little bias but this book was great. There is a lot of swearing and some adult topics so this is not a good one to listen to with kids around. Unless you want them to start yelling "cat f***ing parliament!"

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Meditation is everywhere

Would you consider the audio edition of The Good Luck of Right Now to be better than the print version?

Yes, I love listening to the various voices of the characters. I love the author talking in first person .

What did you like best about this story?

The quirkiness of this story keep me entertained. I also like that the main character did a form of meditation as he wrote his letter to Richard Gere. The story stayed with me.

What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?

I love how he changed his tone for each person. Especially Max and father mac inally.

If you could rename The Good Luck of Right Now, what would you call it?

When god closes a door he always opens a window! Keep on the look out for it!

Any additional comments?

This is a quirky story of a man who only cares for his mother. His mother pass away, and thru a few various circumstances, he meets people who help him grow up and heal his grieving of his mother.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Comes together in the end...But it takes 7 hours

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I think so. Honestly, after "Silver Linings..." I was expecting something of similar momentum. In style, I suppose it is. Finishing it, it suddenly feels like it was a cohesive, easy flowing story all along. That is not at all how I felt listening up until then.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Quirky, Funny and Heartwarming

An curious story with lovable unconventional cast of characters each with their own unique nuances.

Excellent read!

Well written and read. I love this author and the quirky, wonderful characters he creates!