So far 2014 seems to be my year of serendipitous reading. First it was The Expats, bought to save me from airport boredom solely on the strength of the title, and now it's The Good Luck of Right Now, which arrived unsolicited and sat around for a while, in danger of joining those books I haven't asked for and don't know when or if I'll ever get around to reading. I had just about heard of The Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick's earlier novel and subsequent film, but it was a review on Book Snob that made me think I'd better make a start on this one. And oh how glad I am that I did.
For this is truly a lovely lovely novel. And it is also a novel about serendipity. The story is told by Bartholomew Neil. He's thirty-eight, and his beloved, loving, slightly crazy mother has just died after a long illness. He has never had a job, or had to look after himself in any important way. He is used to being called a retard, but he is far from stupid, though he looks at the world in an unusual way -- we have to assume he has Aspergers though this is never mentioned. His grief counselor Wendy is urging him to leave the nest and find his flock, but he has no idea how to begin. He's set a goal for himself -- to have a drink in a bar with someone of his own age -- but as yet does not know how he will achieve this. And on top of everything else he has a crush on the Girlbrarian, as he calls the silent, rather strange young woman who works in the local library.
Apart from Wendy, Bartholomew's only contact with the outside world is Father McNamee, who is rapidly falling apart and soon moves in with Bartholomew, a rather mixed blessing as he is usually either on his knees praying to a God he has ceased to believe in or completely drunk. So Bartholomew turns to someone who he knows to be wise and good -- Richard Gere. Of course he doesn't know Richard Gere, but he was his mother's favorite film star, and the two of them were much impressed by his work for Tibet and his friendship with the Dalai Lama. So he starts to write letters to Richard Gere, and though he doesn't get, or expect, any replies, he finds the process helpful. Through what he understands of Buddhism, and from his reading of Jung, and from his mother's belief in what she called the good luck of right now, and his faith in serendipity, he manages to find his way through the new bewildering world, has some extraordinary adventures, and ends up... well, you'll have to read it to find out, but it's a happy ending.
The Good Luck of Right Now is funny, moving, thought-provoking and uplifting. I loved every minute of it. Highly highly recommended.
