Love May Fail

Unlike a lot of  other reviewers of this book, I've never read The Silver Linings Playbook. I've seen the movie and thought it was ok (I do maintain that Jennifer Lawrence, who I adore, really won her Oscar not for her performance in this movie, but for her role in Winter's Bone - she was totally robbed that year), but still haven't gotten around to reading the book.

Maybe that's why I liked this book so much. Most other reviews I've read of it can't seem to help themselves from comparing it (mostly unfavorably) to The Silver Linings Playbook. I can see some of the issues others have pointed out - it's overly sentimental at times. The character of Portia Kane is a little annoying in a predictable Jersey-trash kind of way. And a few of the situations/occurrences had me rolling my eyes a little.

Still. This was a charming book. Once one suspends ones disbelief in all of the all-too-perfect random coincidences bringing people together and just decides to enjoy the ride, it turns out to be a very good book. And now that I have finally read for myself what kind of work Matthew Quick produces, I'm very ready to read more.

To summarize the book, so that this isn't a total waste of space review - Portia Kane has just caught her sleazy pornographer husband cheating on her. Instead of shooting him (her first impulse), she instead jumps on a plane and heads home to Jersey and her not-quite-all-there, hoarder mother. After meeting a wise old nun on the plane who wishes her luck with a quest she didn't know she was embarking on, she decides she needs to save her tragically depressed high school English teacher, Mr. Vernon.

The story is told from four different viewpoints - Portia, Mr. Vernon, Sister Maeve and Chuck Bass.

***Let me pause here for a moment and give my biggest criticism of this book. Seriously? A character named Chuck Bass? Ok, I get that this is literary fiction and that Q probably is above pop culture, guilty pleasure trash like Gossip Girl, but come. on. You can't name a character Chuck Bass anymore without it casting a massive shadow over the whole story. Chuck Bass is not a recovering heroin addict in the suburbs of New Jersey. He's Chuck Motherfucking Bass. A spoiled rotten New York hotelier's son with questionable morals and a deep love for Blair Waldorf. Everytime Chuck's whole name is mentioned in this book, it took me right out of the story. Anyway, back to the review...***

Q does a good job creating a distinct voice for each character - particularly for Sister Maeve and for Mr. Vernon.

As each character interacts and the web that binds them all is revealed, the story shows its big heart. I feel like if I say more, I'll reveal too much, so I will leave it at this - Love May Fail is a worthwhile read.