The Good Luck of Right Now

By: Matthew Quick

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Call it fate...

Call it synchronicity...

Call it an act of God...

Call it…The Good Luck of Right Now.

For 38 years, Bartholomew Neil has lived with his mother. When she gets sick and dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His redheaded grief counselor, Wendy, says he needs to find his flock and leave the nest. But how does a man whose whole life has been grounded in his mom, Saturday Mass, and the library learn how to fly?

Bartholomew thinks he's found a clue when he discovers a "Free Tibet" letter from Richard Gere hidden in his mother's underwear drawer. In her final days, Mom called him Richard - there must be a cosmic connection. Believing that the actor is meant to help him, Bartholomew awkwardly starts his new life by writing Richard Gere a series of letters. Jung and the Dalai Lama, philosophy and faith, alien abduction and cat telepathy, the Catholic Church and the mystery of women, are all explored in his soul-baring epistles. But mostly the letters reveal one man's heartbreakingly earnest attempt to assemble a family of his own.

A struggling priest; a "Girlbrarian"; her feline-loving, foul-mouthed brother; and the spirit of Richard Gere join the quest to help Bartholomew. In a rented Ford Focus, they travel to Canada to see the Cat Parliament and find Bartholomew's biological father…and discover so much more.

©2014 Matthew Quick (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

Critic reviews

"Thanks to Oliver Wyman's extraordinary performance, this novel should be savored in audio.... One can only pity the poor print reader." ( AudioFile)

"[A]nother offbeat gem populated with eccentric, fallible, intensely human characters." ( Booklist)

"A quirky coming-of-age story…. Quick writes with an engaging intimacy, capturing his narrator’s innocence and off-kilter philosophy, and the damaged souls in orbit around him." ( Publishers Weekly)

Loved every minute of this story!

The best part about this feel-good book was the reminder that no matter what the obstacles are in front of you or how bad life can seem to get, there is always positivity in some of the darkest moments.

Comes together in the end...But it takes 7 hours

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I think so. Honestly, after "Silver Linings..." I was expecting something of similar momentum. In style, I suppose it is. Finishing it, it suddenly feels like it was a cohesive, easy flowing story all along. That is not at all how I felt listening up until then.

"Dear Mr. Henshaw" for Grown-ups

The premise of this book was highly original, with the main character, Bartholomew, relating his story in a series of letters to Richard Gere. The characters are flawed, broken, but loveable. Note: One character does have a major cursing issue. So, if you are put off by excessive use of the F-word (like I am), be warned. However, there's no malice in it, and like Bartholomew, I got used to it, liking the character, despite the language. I enjoyed this book because it focused on one of my favorite themes - Life can be unfair and cruel, and not turn out the way you would choose; but you can choose your attitude in responding to it. Whatever happens, you always have to move forward; it helps if you have friends.

Great characters

A great quirky book. The odd mix of characters keeps you guessing at every turn. The narrators voice has a unique point of view. Highly recommend this book if you want something a little different

Poor Narration of Female Characters

PLEASE STOP with the fake, high, breathy voice for female characters! Just read the text in a normal voice and trust your listeners to do the rest. I almost gave up on this wonderful book because of the poor narrative of female characters.

Insider view of crazy...

I felt I was inside the head of Bartholomew Neil. The story made me look at his life looking out of his eyes. It is not an easy point of view. I wonder if Richard Gere ever read this book?

Loved it!

I'm a Mathew Quick fan, anyway, lol. This was such a great book, pulling out emotions from every angle. Well done and absolutely hilarious in places. Narration was superb.

Great

Totally love this book. Like all Matthew Quick. Not something I can just read at my leisure. Have to finish it because I can’t put it down.

AMAZING

This was easily the best book I've read (well, listened to) in recent memory. The words are tender, humorous, thought-provoking, quirky, and positive. Bartholomew Neil is an kind and innocent man, likely on the autism spectrum, who has lived through some unspeakably sad events. The book opens up with him in the wake of his mothers death and chronicles his healing process in series of letters to (who else?) Richard Gere. Bartholomew's pain is so beautifully tragic and is foiled through supporting characters including a physically abused grief counselor, alcoholic priest, introverted librarian, and potty-mouth who is grieving the loss of his cat. While I actively cried at multiple parts of this book, I left the reading feeling an overwhelming sense of positivity. I had previously enjoyed Silver Linings and enjoyed the similarities of these two novels (i.e., healing after loss, quirky characters, Philly grit), but feel as though this book was far superior.

The narration was the best I've heard in my history of Audible and will become the standard by which I measure future audiobooks. I am SO happy I *listened* to this book and cannot imagine my brain would be able to bring the characters to life the way Mr. Wyman did.

Sweet story full of quirky people

This book was excellent as an audiobook in large part because of the narrator. But it's a great story full of quirky people trying to make sense of their lives . Underneath is the general theme that the stories we tell about the meaning of our lives should not be evaluated for truth as much as for how kind they make us.