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The Reason You're Alive
The Reason You're Alive: A Novel | Matthew Quick
36 posts | 26 read | 49 to read
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review
suvata
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Pickpick

All of Matthew Quick‘s books are so different from each other and yet they are all so good. This one had a lot to about the Vietnam War and its aftermath. I like Quick‘s writing because it feels like he is just sitting beside you and telling you a story - nice and easy like.

57 likes1 stack add
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Hforrester12
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"Only the good die young, and I've lived nasty.
Live nasty, live forever.
Sweetheart, you can bet your pretty little ass on that."

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Hforrester12

"Long term success usually comes from consistently hitting singles and doubles, not from hitting the occasional home run every so many games"

7 likes1 stack add
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Clwojick
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Pickpick

Wow. This book was brilliant. I have a feeling that there are some pretty mixed feeling about it, but I personally loved it. Written with so much raw, unabashed emotion, this book has you laughing, smiling, gasping, scowling and tearing up all in the course of a few pages. The main character David won my heart over early on in the story when he set aside his gruff attitude to have a tea party with his granddaughter. ♥️ #SummersEndReadathon 1hr2m

alisiakae Great start! So you get all your audiobooks from the library,or Audible? Our library is lacking on the audiobook selection in Overdrive. 5y
Megabooks So glad you liked it!! 5y
Clwojick @4thhouseontheleft Libby, through my library. They have an awesome selection, but normally with very long wait lists. I sent to choose from the “available now” section, as opposed to waiting for holds. But the plus side to that is that I find a lot of awesome authors that I otherwise wouldn‘t have come across. 5y
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alisiakae @Clwojick That‘s what I use, but my library seems not to buy nearly as many audiobooks as yours! However, my wait lists are usually quite reasonable, often not more than 2-3 weeks at the most. 5y
alisiakae For example, not a single Brenda Novak book is available on Overdrive/Libby at my library! 😄 That‘s why I‘ve flirted with the idea of an Audible subscription. 5y
Clwojick @4thhouseontheleft wow! A good chunk of our holds are 6+ months. 🙈 5y
Clwojick @4thhouseontheleft With the speed that I go through audiobooks, I think audible would be too expensive 🤑 5y
alisiakae @Clwojick Wow! Even the most in-demand books, like Becoming, usually become available within a month or two! 5y
77 likes2 stack adds8 comments
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Clwojick

“Don't you ever feel like everyone is bullshitting you? Just saying what they think you want to hear? Like everyone is constantly lying, and we never really know a single person at all? I don't feel that way when I'm around your father. I might not always agree with his point of view, but I'm always certain I at least know it.”

#SummersEndReadathon

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Sweettartlaura
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Pickpick

That‘s it! Matthew Quick is an American treasure ❤️. Just read this passage, this perfect snapshot of the American dream. You can feel the warmth of the sun, the grit of sand, the damp of the lake. And you know this is a moment they all worked for so hard - to have a memory like this.

There‘s much more to love about this book - see link to GR review.

Definitely put this one on your List ❤️📚

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32522527

33 likes1 stack add
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Tashreads
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Pickpick

Well, that was a surprise. If you had told me at the start of this book that I would be bawling and giving it 5 stars, I would have called you cray cray. But here we are. I‘m still crying and it‘s got 5 stars.

Sweettartlaura I cried, too 😭 6y
87 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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Tashreads
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Currently reading

Sweettartlaura He is becoming one of my favorite authors ❤️ 6y
70 likes1 comment
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GirlWellRead
Pickpick

I loved the book and by the end I absolutely adored David, even with his many flaws. His outspokenness was so comedic yet strangely endearing. Pick this up, you'll be so glad you did!

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Megabooks
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Pickpick

Despite some controversy, I like Matthew Quick‘s quirky characters. This book is his take on the conservative/liberal divide in the US. The book is written from the perspective of a conservative Vietnam vet. He has a very liberal son who he has problems relating to. As the story unfolds, the vet is not as bigoted as his son believes him to be.

As a liberal, this reminded me not to judge conservatives as first glance. 4.5⭐️

90 likes5 stack adds
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Tashreads
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Day 7| #ReadingResolutions #rainbowstack

🌈🌈🌈🌈

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Haileyfierce
Pickpick

I wasn‘t sure if I was going to like this book but I found it very endearing. It made me think a lot about my grandpa who fought in the Vietnam war and helped me see things on a different flight.

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actualdisneyprincess
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Pickpick

Matthew Quick did it again. Wonderful, real, flawed, honest characters, a gorgeous, unvarnished blend of humor and heart and heartbreak and just...this was such a wonderful read. #thereasonyourealive #matthewquick

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actualdisneyprincess
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I'm such a sucker for grandpa/granddaughter adventures. #thereasonyourealive #matthewquick

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actualdisneyprincess
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David Granger is such a modern-day Archie Bunker; the things he says in his narration are so appalling, but there's still something appealing about him. #thereasonyourealive #matthewquick

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actualdisneyprincess
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I loved "The Silver Linings Playbook" - though I still haven't finished the movie ??‍♀️ - so I was super-excited to see this at the library. I'm only a few pages in, but already loving David. Quick's characters are always so wonderful. #thereasonyourealive #matthewquick

Yeah_I_Read I enjoyed this! 7y
actualdisneyprincess @Yeah_I_Read it was so wonderful!! I'm so glad I picked it up!! 😭 7y
11 likes1 stack add2 comments
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mrozzz
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Pickpick

Inner machinations of a crass, war-torn,"I swear I'm not a racist", senior white man. I laughed, I cringed.

*The Sellout by Paul Beatty is a necessary precursor to the sort of tongue-in-cheek delivery of the hates-everything/everybody-not-American narrator.

Like any unfamiliar writing style I eventually set it aside to get to the engaging memories written in between the rhetoric. Ultimately I don't think it hit the mark but it's worth a read.

mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read my final thoughts ☝🏻 7y
Yeah_I_Read @mrozzz I have been meaning to read The Sellout forever 😩. Great review 😊 7y
mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read if you liked this book you should definitely read the Sellout! And thanks ☺️ 7y
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Yeah_I_Read @mrozz it was so great to discuss this book with you! We should try to do a buddy read soon 🤗 7y
mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read yes!!! Let's go over our TBR lists! I want to make a #tbrbingo card I just haven't gotten around to it. 7y
Yeah_I_Read @mrozz me too lol. I'm gonna stalk your account rn 7y
Yeah_I_Read @mrozzz what about The Nix ? Or The Mothers? 7y
mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read Either! I know the Nix will be a doozy (long) but I've heard such good things I'm excited to read it (and The Mothers)- and I own both 🙃 7y
Yeah_I_Read Let's do The Nix. I've heard good things about it too and I bought it not too long ago. We could break it up into sections so it's not overwhelming 7y
mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read that would be a great idea, also I'll have more time to read over Labor Day weekend if you want to plan to start Set 1? 😄 7y
Yeah_I_Read Sounds great 😊 7y
73 likes1 stack add11 comments
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mrozzz
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I did the moral math in my head: without a doubt, a narrative had clearly formed. God had given me a chance to atone. And after my time in the jungle I f*cking needed it.

Sometimes you just have to take what comes your way and do the absolute best you can with the opportunity.

🌆🤞🏻🙃

Yeah_I_Read 🙌🙌🙌🙌 7y
emilyhaldi Love this pic ❤️ 7y
mrozzz @emilyhaldi thanks! 🙃 7y
61 likes1 stack add3 comments
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mrozzz
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It's hard to talk about war with people who haven't seen real action. You don't understand. You will never understand. And so I can't tell you everything. But if you listen the right way, you might just learn a thing or two anyway.

Yeah_I_Read I really liked this!! 7y
mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read I saw your review! So far I have mixed feelings but I guess the narrator is supposed to be hard to like. 7y
Yeah_I_Read @mrozzz I know some of what he says is harsh but I feel like it's realistic as in a lot of people think like him 7y
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mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read that is definitely true re: conservative ideas it's just that sometimes the crass language stops during a retelling of an experience and then both sides of him feel forced- the loud-mouthed anti-every-country-but-America Republican and the vulnerable senior citizen (edited) 7y
Yeah_I_Read @mrozzz is it bad that I thought it was hilarious 😬 7y
mrozzz @Yeah_I_Read no!!! For the first chapter I was laughing a lot. I like his story, less the delivery. I'll push on. 7y
Yeah_I_Read @mrozz definitely lmk what you think when you're done 😊 7y
53 likes7 comments
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Yeah_I_Read
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Pickpick

Raw, hilarious, authentic, emotional...you know... the usual for Matthew Quick. 4.5 🌟's

92 likes4 stack adds
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Kleonard
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Excited to start!

58 likes2 stack adds
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Yeah_I_Read
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The first line 😂😂

Linear Why is this saying not more common LOL 7y
Yeah_I_Read @Linear right!! I'm gonna start using it 😂😂 7y
melbeautyandbooks @Yeah_I_Read - Yes, I am going to start using it too. I see a lot of doctors and they try to give me the mushroom treatment. 7y
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ScorpioBookDreams We call my dad a mushroom because he's always in the dark about what's going on 😂 7y
MemoirsForMe Love it! 😂😂😂 7y
silentrequiem That's an amazing opening line! 7y
76 likes6 comments
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Yeah_I_Read
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🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 my hold on this just came in!

64 likes1 stack add
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TheJOMOreader
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Listening to this audiobook & it's brutal. The narrator uses abhorrent slurs for every group of people that aren't straight white men. A lot of people seem to bail on this one because of the language, and that is fair, especially if you've been on the receiving end of these words. But I'm going to plug on, cringing all the way, b/c turning these people off & pretending they don't exist is partly how we arrived to our current state of affairs.

TobeyTheScavengerMonk I haven't heard of this one. Do you think the slurs represent beliefs the author holds, or is he using them to illustrate characters' points of view? 7y
TheJOMOreader @TobeyTheScavengerMonk Absolutely for the character. The narrator is a Vietnam vet who just cannot stand his liberal son's beliefs (and honestly, points out some valid hypocrisies, albeit crudely). The language is hard to get past, but the narrator honestly believes he's right, and isn't as vile as his language makes him seem. 7y
11 likes2 comments
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giveitupforlentmom
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Pickpick

This was so good Iike he always does. Hopeful.

RadicalReader @giveitupforlentmom you clearly do eat with your eyes first as I definitely did when taking in this sensational cover 6y
11 likes1 comment
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janeycanuck
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Mehso-so

This was... something. I don't think I could have made it through if I hadn't seen a couple of Litsy posts warning about the racism. Really pretty cover, though.

Purrfectpages Aw man. I had higher hopes for this one. 7y
janeycanuck @Purrfectpages it's not a long read so maybe still give it a try... I definitely would have put it down if I hadn't been prepared (there's a scene in the beginning with a Muslim woman where the narrator is incredibly racist towards her that @BookishMarginalia had quoted.) 7y
11 likes2 comments
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mrozzz
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Dinner with my babe after a productive trip to the library!
#bookishdinner #summerreads

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janeycanuck
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When it rains, all your holds come in at the library. That's the saying, right? Guess I've got my stack ready for #24in28.

24 likes1 stack add
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bookdrunkard78
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Waiting for Matthew Quick to speak! He's one of my favorites!

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Well-ReadNeck
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Pickpick

Wow! Absolutely cannot recommend this enough. Starts prickly and uncomfortable but with a purpose. This book unwinds bit by bit and is amazingly well constructed. A great book to read especially as an American right now in such a divided time. Challenging and ultimately redeeming.

Oh, I listened on audiobook and the narrator was right on.

BookishMarginalia I bailed because I couldn't stand the narrative voice at this time. May give it a second try later on. 7y
Purrfectpages I love the Matthew Quick books I've read. Good to see promising reviews come out before I tackle this! 7y
104 likes7 stack adds2 comments
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BookishMarginalia
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Bailedbailed

Made it to page 25 and decided this is not for me right now. I just can't stand the narrator, and have no patience or desire at the moment to look beyond that dislike. (The flap calls the narrator "controversial, wrenching, and wildly honest" which is apparently code for racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant, gun-toting, ultra-conservative, liberal-hating... just no, thank you. I'll pass.)

DGRachel 😡 thanks for taking one for the team! 7y
alisonrose Ugh. I bet the author thought he was being "edgy" - bro code for asshole 7y
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quietlycuriouskate Yes, a willingness to be challenged by a different mindset is one thing but.... ugh. It's hot here at the minute: I really don't need my blood to be boiling. 7y
AmyG Thanks for the heads up. 7y
Megabooks Ick! 7y
ReadingManda Sounds like most of my coworkers. 👎 7y
RealBooks4ever Sounds horrible! I'll stay away! 🤢 7y
MrBook Aww, well, they can't all win our hearts and minds. 7y
minkyb You tried! 7y
Hooked_on_books Oh that's awful! Too bad we don't have a Litsy stack area for "never read this, ever." 7y
148 likes1 stack add11 comments
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BookishMarginalia
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Hmm... I think this narrator is going to be pushing my buttons...

Linear I think I saw somewhere in a review about how some people are getting mad that some books are pushing their political agendas. I don't really read contemporary books so I hadn't really experienced this. But I think this might be where they got that idea. 7y
BookishMarginalia @linear @Notafraidofwords Yep, I bailed at page 25. Given the state of America right now, I choose not to spend time inhabiting the psyche of this narrator. 7y
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Leftcoastzen Wow , can't even... 7y
That-Bookish-Hiker Wow. 😳 this guy sounds like a winner. 🙄 7y
Prairiegirl_reading That is horrid!! So sad that people really think this way. 7y
StephanieMarie Ugh. Hopefully not the perspective of the author. 7y
Lcsmcat I don't think I could stomach this narrator. 😣 7y
alisiakae Ugh. 😳😳 7y
Alucard 😑 7y
diovival Nope nope nope 😒 7y
100 likes11 comments
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BookishMarginalia
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Seems appropriate 😁

Linear How are you always finding the fancy coffee 7y
BookishMarginalia @linear -- it's the lovely and talented baristas at my neighborhood bookstore, @TheBookmarkPR -- they spoil me! 7y
Linear @BookishMarginalia its practically perfect each time, i was starting to think it was a fake prop lol 7y
130 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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specklife
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Pickpick

Absolutely f***ing outstanding.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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specklife
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Reading the new Matthew Quick (yay!!) and sipping coffee out of my bookish new mug, courtesy of a book club buddy.

angrylilasian I love the mug! 7y
specklife Thank you!! Me, too!! ❤️❤️☕️☕️☕️ 7y
12 likes2 comments
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DrBird
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Pickpick

This one is likely to catch people by surprise. Probably the best first person narrator Quick has written (maybe Pat Peoples is "better"?). Also the funniest book he's done. Plus, it challenges some of the comfortable myths we on the left often leave unquestioned. Ultimately this has some uncomfortable moments that makes for a tremendously satisfying read.