Pat Peoples, 35, returns to his boyhood home after several years in a mental institution. He is obsessed with getting back with his wife, Nikki, whom we learn has divorced him and remarried. He and his family and his therapist are fanatic Philadelphia Eagles, who are losing. He believe in silver-linings. A strange but captivating story. ( )

I started off being so incredibly into this book - the narrator just drew me in and I was all about empathy for his story and curiosity about what the real deal was with him. Then I put it down (you know how you get distracted) and when I picked it up again about 3/4 through, I was unconvinced. The narrative voice seemed a little patronizing and the plot - especially the ending - contrived. But in retrospect, the ending is completely appropriate and overall I did like the book. I would recommend it to people who liked Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company or Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, which are also stories narrated by people with mental illness. Especially Steve Martin's book because it is funny and has that satisfying wrap-things-up feeling. ( )

This is a great debut novel by Matthew Quick. I found it sitting out in the new fiction section of my public library. The story is about Pat, a man who for the last few years of his life has been living in the “bad place” or rather a neural therapy clinic. As Pat tells us in his own words, he knows that he hasn’t been the best husband to his wife Nikki. But things have changed since they have spent some “apart time” which Pat hopes will soon be over. What he wishes more than anything in the world, is to be reunited with his wife. He has begun to take care of his body by working out daily. He has expanded his mind by reading the classics, which Nikki’s friends continually mocked him for not doing in the past. He has even worked on being nice rather than right, by keeping things to himself and not always pointing out other peoples mistakes. Certainly the new and improved Pat will be a welcome sight to Nikki and they will be reunited in the new future right? Pat can only hope.

His mother is finally able to bring him back home to New Jersey from the “bad place” and sets him up with a work out room in the basement. Now that he is out of the institution things are certainly turning up for Pat. He is reunited with an old friend; his brother has bought him season tickets for his beloved Philadelphia Eagles, and his new therapist (an Eagles fan himself) isn’t a pessimistic downer like the doctor in the “bad place”. With this Pat begins to piece his life back together again as he continually works to the point when he can finally reunite with his wife.

Mathew Quick is a wonderful new author who is able to create intriguing characters who you want to get to know. Before I began reading the book I thought I might be getting myself into a “touchy feely” chick book, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well written it was. I was truly drawn into the story and am glad I stumbled upon it. If he keeps at it, I think Quick has a bright future in the world of fictional storytelling. ( )

This is a very good read and I am sorry to have finished it; always a sign of a good book. It’s about Pat Peoples who is the narrator of the story. Pat has returned home from hospital to live with his parents after a serious illness or event which is only revealed to the reader later in the book. Pat has no memory of how long or why he has been in hospital but his main goal in life is to be reunited with his wife, to be a better husband and stay out of hospital. He is not allowed to contact his wife and she is not allowed to contact him but he is convinced that will change when he is fully recovered. He is supported in his rehabilitation by his brother and an old friend and is introduced to Tiffany, a slightly odd character who is recovering from the death of her husband. Because we only get to know Pat’s side of his story the reader can only speculate on the history of what happened between him and his wife and the writer very cleverly drip feeds us clues to keep maximum interest.
The story is also closely linked with American Football. Pat, his father and brother and even his shrink are avid fans of the ‘Eagles’. There is a lot of boring detail about football games, players and rituals in this book and although it detracted from the story somewhat it was not enough to make me stop reading.
It’s an unusual story about family dysfunction and I can’t say much more without giving away the plot and the ending but I can recommend it very highly. ( )