Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Book Review: Silver Lining's Playbook





While I knew that a movie about this book had just come out in theaters, I didn't have any idea what it was about.  All I knew is that my sister-in-law, Lauren had read it and she liked it.  And she was nice enough to give me her log-in to her kindle so that I could read it on my iPad.  Thanks, sis!

We meet Pat Peoples right about the time his mother is checking him out of a mental institution.  You don't know why he was there or the duration of his stay.  Pat is disoriented and since this book is written from his perspective, plot details are purposefully left out at the beginning.

The book focuses on Pat's recovery and the challenges he faces not only within himself, but with his family as well.  His mother is an enabler, while his father is distant and crude.  Pat moves in with his parents, obsessively works out and pines for his wife, who he hasn't seen since before he went into "the bad place". 

Enters Tiffany, who is his brother's sister-in-law.  She was tragically widowed and is equally unstable.  Naturally, his brother decides that they should get together.  I personally like Tiffany; although a lot of that probably has to do with the fact that she doesn't like football and gets annoyed at Pat whenever he brings it up.  Which is way too much.  I get it - football is the one bonding agent he has with his father.  That still doesn't mean that I have to like it, though!

It's interesting to find out how long Pat was away and what put him there in the first place.  While this book does not have an instant happily ever after, it does end with a silver lining.  (See what I did there?)

Now, who wants to take me to the movies?

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