News & Reviews

WORD: Matthew Quick debuts novel ‘Silver Linings’ with FSG imprint

As the football season picks up steam, author Matthew Quick’s debut novel "The Silver Linings Playbook," a story about love, madness, and Kenny G set against a backdrop of a losing Philadelphia Eagles team could appeal to American readers. Farrar, Straus & Giroux imprint Sarah Crichton Books announced the novel has just launched at bookstores nationwide.

Matthew, a former Philly area teacher, describes his novel as a "riotous and poignant story of how one man regains his memory and comes to terms with the magnitude of his wife’s betrayal."

While spending time at a neural health facility, Silver Linings protagonist Pat Peoples -- a metaphor for Everyman? -- decides that his life is a movie produced by God, his mission is to become physically fit and emotionally supportive, and the return of his estranged wife Nikki will mark his happy ending. Good luck on that one.

When Pat goes to live with his parents everything seems oddly changed. Nobody will talk to him about Nikki. His old friends are saddled with families. The Philadelphia Eagles keep losing, making his father cantankerous. And his new therapist appears to recommend adultery as a form of therapy.

When Pat meets a physically fit but clinically depressed Tiffany, she offers to act as a liaison between him and his wife but with a catch: He must give up watching football, agree to perform in this year’s Dance Away Depression competition, and promise not to tell anyone about their agreement.

Will Pat find his Silver Lining? You can find out now that Matthew’s debut has launched at bookstores across the USA. Literary agent Russell Galen with Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency reportedly cut the deal for his debut.

Separately, Matthew’s sophomore novel "Sorta Like a Rock Star" has already been sold to Hatchette Book Group imprint Little, Brown, which has slated a Fall 2009 launch for the title. His new agent Douglas Stewart with Sterling Lord Literistic cut the deal for his sophomore novel, which Matthew notes will be marketed as a young adult (YA) title but he hopes it will appeal to both teens and adults.

To learn more about Matthew Quick check out his website.

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