The Good Luck of Right Now
Quick, the author of The Silver Linings ­Playbook (2008), provides another offbeat gem populated with eccentric, fallible, intensely human characters. After his mother’s death, 38-year-old Bartholomew Neil, a middle-aged man who has never left home, is at a crossroads in his life. Finding a form letter from Richard Gere buried in his mother’s underwear drawer, he begins a one-sided correspondence with the superstar, triggering a series of events that culminates in a life-­altering road trip to Canada with a motley crew of misfits including his secret crush, the girlbrarian; her foulmouthed, oddball brother; and a Catholic priest who has fled his parish. The quartet travels northward in search of Bartholomew’s biological father, and humor, pathos, and quirky bends in the road define their odyssey, making it increasingly clear that it is all about the journey, not the destination.        HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Considering the megapopularity of the film version of The Silver Linings Playbook, expect high demand for this spiritually fueled midlife coming-of-age novel. --Margaret Flanagan