Anthologies
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Break These Rules | 2013 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Silver Linings Playbook | 2008 | Buy |
| Sorta Like a Rock Star | 2010 | Buy |
| Boy21 | 2012 | Buy |
| Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock | 2013 | Buy |
| The Good Luck of Right Now | 2014 | Buy |
| Love May Fail | 2015 | Buy |
| Every Exquisite Thing | 2016 | Buy |
| The Reason You’re Alive | 2017 | Buy |
| We Are the Light | 2022 | Buy |
Matthew Quick writes about outsiders, underdogs, and people who don’t quite fit in. His debut novel, The Silver Linings Playbook, follows Pat Peoples as he moves back in with his parents after time in a mental health facility, determined to reunite with his ex-wife. The book became a cultural phenomenon after David O. Russell adapted it into the 2012 film starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.
Quick’s young adult novels are just as sharp. Sorta Like a Rock Star features a homeless teenager who refuses to lose her optimism, while Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock follows a boy on the day he plans to kill his former best friend and then himself. Boy21 mixes basketball with grief and identity in a run-down Pennsylvania town. These books never shy away from dark subjects, but Quick writes his characters with enough warmth that the stories never feel hopeless.
His adult novels have continued to explore unconventional perspectives. The Good Luck of Right Now is told through letters to Richard Gere, Love May Fail follows a woman on a mission to save her old English teacher, and The Reason You’re Alive gives voice to a Vietnam veteran grappling with a changing world. We Are the Light, his most recent novel, is set in a community recovering from a mass shooting and told through letters to a Jungian analyst.