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THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK 2013 RESOURCE GUIDE
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WELCOME
hat can our community learn from an unemployed high school history teacher struggling to put his life back together? Plenty, it turns out.
Pat Peoples, the everyman protagonist of “The Silver Linings Playbook,” offers us insights into sorrow, acceptance, perseverance and hope. He teaches us about the importance of family, friends and community in facing life’s challenges. Most of all, he offers us a clear-eyed view of the realities of mental illness. Delaware Valley native Matthew Quick uses his story narrative to humorously and poignantly portray the challenges faced by individuals and families dealing with mental illness. Many of us may have been personally affected by mental illness or known someone who needs assistance and treatment. Unfortunately, there are still many stigmas associated with diagnosing and treating this disease with many of those who suffer failing to get the treatment they need. According to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sibellius, “60 percent of people with mental illness and 90 percent of those with substance abuse disorders don’t get the help they need.” President Obama’s 2013 budget proposal includes $235 million to fund a nationwide mental health initiative, including training for teachers and others working with youth to identify signs of mental illness and provide treatment. Data indicate that 50 percent of those suffering from mental illness will be diagnosed by age 14 and 75 percent by age 24. We invite you to participate in this important discussion and think about how we as a community can provide the help needed by so many. Study this Playbook and we’ll see you at Matthew Quick’s appearance on Nov. 15 in the beautifully renovated auditorium at John Witherspoon Middle School. Leslie Burger Executive Director
FIRST QUARTER
ABOUT About Matthew Quick
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atthew Quick, who prefers to go simply by Q, was born in Philadelphia and was raised in Oaklyn, N.J. He is a graduate of Collingswood High School and La Salle University and taught literature and film at Haddonfield Memorial High School for several years, during which he coached soccer and basketball, chaperoned trips to Peru and Ecuador, initiated a pen-pal exchange with students in Namibia, and counseled troubled teens. In 2004, he made the difficult decision to leave teaching and pursue his dream of becoming a fiction writer. He received his master’s degree in creative writing from Goddard College in 2007. He now lives in Massachusetts with his wife, novelist-pianist Alicia Bessette. He is the author of The New York Times bestseller “The Silver Linings Playbook,” which was made into an Oscar-winning film, and three Young Adult novels, “Sorta Like A Rock Star,” “Boy21,” and the recent release, “Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock.” His work has been translated into 28 languages, received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, was an LA Times Book Prize finalist, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, a No. 1 bestseller in Brazil, and selected by Nancy Pearl as one of Summer’s Best Books for NPR. His next novel for adults, “The Good Luck Of Right Now,” will be released in February, 2014. All of Q’s books have been optioned for film.
About “The Silver Linings Playbook”
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he sixth book to be selected for the community-wide Princeton Reads, “The Silver Linings Playbook” is a novel about denial, acceptance, sorrow and hope. Exploring classic literature, mental illness, the importance of family and community and “silver linings,” the novel follows Pat Peoples, a former high school history teacher, upon his release from a mental health facility. As Pat attempts to win back his estranged wife by adopting both a rigorous workout regimen and a personal philosophy of being “kind instead of right,” he finds, instead, that his life is transformed through a series of encounters with family members and friends, old and new. Pat takes readers on a dizzying journey from the raucous stands of Philadelphia Eagles home games to the floor of an unusual ballroom dance competition, with a side trip through the staples of the high school English curriculum. The result is what librarian and book reviewer Nancy Pearl calls “heartwarming, humorous and soul-satisfying.”
Excerpts from a Q&A w/Q The Matthew Quick interview
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atthew Quick’s journey from high school teacher to unknown writer toiling in his in-laws’ basement to author whose first novel was turned into an Academy Award-winning film has something of a fairy tale quality to it. This stands in contrast to the first-person narrators of “The Silver Linings Playbook” (the sixth Princeton Reads selection) and his new Young Adult novel, “Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock,” both of whom struggle mightily with life in search of a happy ending. In this Q&A, Connections Editor Timothy Quinn asks Quick about mental health, high school English and their shared appreciation for the Philadelphia Eagles. The full interview with Matthew Quick: http://bit.ly/Qinview Q: One of the reasons the library was attracted to “The Silver Linings Playbook” for Princeton Reads was because it provides our community a forum to discuss mental health issues. Why do you think people are so uncomfortable talking about disorders of the brain as opposed to, say, cancer or heart disease? A: It all comes down to a lack of education. People fear the unknown. And when you don’t have the vocabulary and proper information to discuss mental health in a productive manner, dealing with related issues can seem impossible. Mental illnesses are largely treatable just like cancer and heart disease and we need to make the resources available to everyone. I have friends and family members whose lives have been radically improved for the better when they educated themselves and their loved ones about their illnesses and took the proper steps toward living a mentally well life. Q: When the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness discovered we were doing a community-wide reading of
“The Silver Linings Playbook,” they called the next day. You’ve inspired celebrities like Bradley Cooper to speak out for the mentally ill. Is it rewarding for you to see your first book spark serious discussions on mental health issues? A: NAMI is an important organization. I talked privately with many people associated with the “Silver Linings Playbook” movie, and a surprising number chose to be involved with the film primarily because they care about erasing the stigma surrounding mental health. I’m very grateful for any good that results from people interacting with my characters and stories.
Q: In “The Silver Linings Playbook” and “Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock,” your first-person narrators have such authentic voices. Can you describe how your experiences working in a mental health facility and as a high school teacher helped shape these characters and their voices? A: Thank you. Fresh out of college I spent a year doing behavioral therapy in a neural health lockdown unit. It was an extremely formative time in my life. Many of the people with whom I worked, especially the people who had suffered traumatic brain injuries, saw the world just a little differently. Many of them really tried hard to be their best, and it struck me that they often put so much more effort into their day-to-days than most of the lesschallenged people living outside of the unit, and yet they received much less credit. The same was true when I worked with troubled teens. Often these were my favorite students — the ones who struggled in earnest with all of the big questions, allowing themselves to be emotionally vulnerable to the point of crisis, but also bravely facing the less pretty truths that so many of their peers ignored. As a storyteller, I always try to tell the truth. And in my experience the people who are well acquainted with their personal truths are often the ones who have been forced to take the hardest looks in the mirror. Q: Speaking of high school, as a former English teacher, was it as much fun for you as it was for the reader to examine the staples of the high school curriculum through Pat’s lens?
A: I taught, and love, all of the novels Pat struggles with throughout “The Silver Linings Playbook.” I’m a huge Hemingway fan. Back when I was teaching, a parent called to complain about the depressing nature of the books I had assigned in my American Literature course. He was concerned because his son was dealing with depression and this parent said something like, “Every single novel you teach paints a grim portrait of the world. Why can’t the kids read at least one happy book?” These were all classics he was condemning. The parent’s concern for the mental health of his child was sincere, which moved me greatly. And while it’s important to read the classics, Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” isn’t going to get you feeling warm and fuzzy about your fellow man, especially when battling depression. Should 15-year-olds trying to get into Ivy League schools be forced to study American classics if the reading of said books is having a seriously negative effect on their mental health? It was a question I had a hard time answering definitively in my mid-20s. In some ways, “The Silver Linings Playbook” was my answer. Q: Your personal story of how you took the advice you had been giving your students and followed your dream is compelling. Do you think it would resonate with a kid like Leonard Peacock, who has been so battered by life that he sees murder-suicide as his only alternative? Is there anything an adult can say to Leonard that can help?
A: I think the Leonard Peacock types are exactly who respond best to such stories, mostly because they are the ones who need story and art more than your average person. If I didn’t make a break from my suburban life as a high school English teacher, I don’t think I’d now be in a very good place, especially regarding my mental health. Teaching is a wonderful profession and I have nothing against suburban life. It’s just that I felt as though my heart was going to explode if I didn’t acknowledge publicly that the life I was living was a lie and that I wanted — needed —something different in order to be well mentally and spiritually. I think the best thing an adult can say to a Leonard Peacock type is this: “If you are different, that’s OK. There is room for you in the world — space for you to live your life on your own terms as long as you don’t hurt or inhibit anyone else.” Tolerance is the key. For some people, conformity is a slow and torturous death. Q: In his book “If Football’s a Religion, Why Don’t We Have a Prayer?,” Jere Longman wrote: “However brusque, Eagles fans possessed a cockeyed faithfulness. They returned every year. Eagles fans said they would never come back, but they always did, even when their ardor was gut-shot by torment ... Fans expected disappointment and tried to hold back their hearts so the next letdown would not feel so crippling, but they could not hold back and they carried beneath this fear an injured hope that the worst would not happen and things might finally, somehow, turn out for the best.” Can the same be said of Pat?
A: You know, it’s funny. Pat is sort of a reluctant Eagles fan. He follows the team in hopes of connecting with the other men in his life — his best friend, his brother, and especially his father. As a little kid, I really didn’t care all that much about whether the Eagles won, but I pretended I did, just so I would have something in common with my father, grandfather, and uncles. I became pretty obsessive about the Birds in my early 20s and started to make Sundays at the Vet into twisted therapy sessions where I grafted all of the best and worst of my life onto the ups and downs of the Kelly Green team. Whenever friends or family members were going through rough times, Eagles games took on a heightened significance for them, too. There was part of me that knew this was not healthy, even when I was young. But it’s maybe something you can’t escape if you grow up in and around Philly and are raised by Eagles fans. Like most Eagles fans, Pat inherited his green mania. Q: Vet or Linc? A: When they knocked down the Vet I was depressed for days. It was a huge monument to my childhood. It wasn’t pretty, but it — along with The Spectrum — was ours. And the Vet turf was the 12th man. As someone who makes his living promoting empathy and kindness, many of my 700 Level memories should have me saying “Linc” here, but I’d gladly take the Orange Line from La Salle to Pattison just to sit once more in that chaos. For better or worse, I came of age in the 700 Level.
Matthew Quick Friday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m. John Witherspoon School, 217 Walnut Lane
SECOND QUARTER
EVENTS
BOOK DISCUSSIONS
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. Led by Kristin Friberg as part of the monthly Books on Tap Book Group Yankee Doodle Tap Room, Nassau Inn
Thursday, Oct. 10, 10:30 a.m. Led by librarian Kristin Friberg as part of the monthly Fiction Book Group Conference Room
Sunday, Nov. 3, 3 p.m. Led by librarian Janie Hermann Quiet Room
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2 p.m. Led by librarian Linda Adams as part of the Elm Court Book Group Elm Court, 300 Elm Road
SUNDAY KICKOFF
The library will have more than 100 copies of “The Silver Linings Playbook” available to borrow during Princeton Reads.
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m. Led by librarian Hana Lee as part of the To Be Discussed group. Teen Center Friday, Oct. 18, 1 p.m. Led by Harriet Pakula-Teweles Suzanne Patterson Center, 45 Stockton St. Co-sponsored by the library and Princeton Senior Resource Center.
OCTOBER 20 10 a.m. Family Fun Garbage Bag Run Mayor Liz Lempert, Princeton High School Principal Gary Snyder, John Witherspoon Middle School Principal Jason Burr and other Princeton notables will lead a run from Princeton High School to Hinds Plaza, where a pep rally to kick off Princeton Reads will begin. Garbage bags, like the one worn by Pat Peoples, the main character in “Silver Linings Playbook,” will be provided at the starting line. Children 10 and under are welcome
to ride scooters or bikes. Strollers and wagons are welcome, too. All participants in the run will be entered into a drawing where two winners will receive a voucher for two tickets to a 2013 Princeton University football home game of their choice. Winners will be selected at the pep rally on Hinds Plaza that starts at 11 a.m. 11 a.m. Pep Rally We’ll kick off Princeton Reads with a pep rally featuring family friendly activities related to “The Silver Linings Playbook.” Marching bands, a tailgate party, prizes and the Eagles vs. Cowboys game on the big screen are part of the fun. In addition to 50 pompoms, Princeton University has donated 100 tickets to the Nov. 2 game against Cornell that will be given out during the pep rally and other Princeton Reads programs. Hinds Plaza and Community Room 12:30 p.m. Football Fanatics Competition Come dressed in your best game day uniform to show support for your favorite team. Face paint, jerseys and imagination welcome. A panel of judges will determine the winner. Hinds Plaza 1 p.m. Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys The showdown of these division rivals had a special significance for Pat and his family in both the “Silver Linings” book and film. You can watch the division rivals square off for real on our big screen following the pep rally. Community Room
FILM SCREENINGS OF “SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK” The Oscar-winning 2012 film version of Matthew Quick’s book will be screened three times during Princeton Reads, including a special event with a post-screening discussion led by the National Alliance on Mental illness. David O. Russel directs Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in the starring roles of Pat and Tiffany, with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher and Julia Stiles in supporting roles. The film received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. It was the first film since 1981 to be nominated for the four acting categories and the first since 2004 nominated for the Big Five Oscars. Lawrence won the Academy Award for Best Actress. 2 hours, 2 minutes Friday, Oct. 4, 1 p.m. Suzanne Patterson Center, 45 Stockton St. Co-sponsored by the library and the Princeton Senior Resource Center
Friday, Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m. Community Room Nov. 9, 3 p.m. Film and Discussion A screening of the film based on this year’s Princeton Reads selection by Matthew Quick is followed by a discussion lead by representatives of the Mercer County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness about how mental illness is depicted in the film. 2 hours, 2 minutes. Community Room Co-sponsored by the library and NAMI of Mercer County.
SCREENINGS OF RELATED FILMS Film and Q&A: “Mad Hot Ballroom” Thursday, Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. Following a screening of this documentary about a New York City youth learning to dance and participating in a dance competition, writer-producer Amy Sewell provides updates on the film and holds a Q&A session. Community Room Ballroom Blitz Saturday, Oct. 26 A day of screenings of films about ballroom dance, a major element of “The Silver Linings Playbook,” includes “Shall We Dance?” (2004, 1 hour, 46 minutes) at 11 a.m.; “Dance With Me” (1998, 2 hours, 6 minutes) at 1 p.m.; and “Strictly Ballroom” (1992, 1 hour, 34 minutes) at 3:30 p.m. Community Room
Film and Q&A: “Running from Crazy” Sunday, Nov. 10, 2 p.m. This documentary chronicles the history of mental illness and suicide in Ernest Hemingway’s family. Seven members of the Hemingway family, including the author and his granddaughter, model-actress Margaux Hemingway, have committed suicide. David Cassidy, one of the film’s producers, will participate in a Q&A following the screening. Director Barbara Kopple has been invited.
SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS
Create Your Own Silver Lining Oct. 20 through Nov. 15 “The Great Gatsby,” “A Farewell to Arms,” and “The Bell Jar” are novels that translate across generations. But just as Pat is surprised by the turns these classics take in “The Silver Linings Playbook,” sometimes we
might wish to rewrite the ending of the books we read. What if Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby never met his fate in the swimming pool? Or if Hemingway’s Frederic Henry embraced his son after the death of his beloved Catherine? Let us know how and why you would rewrite the ending of any book. Email read@ princetonlibrary.org, comment on our Facebook page, or tweet us using the hashtag #PPLReads13. Tango Lessons Sunday, Oct. 27, 2 p.m. The characters in “The Silver Linings Playbook” form a bond through ballroom dancing. Viva Tango gives a beginner lesson in the Argentine Tango followed by a demonstration of this captivating dance. Suzanne Patterson Center, 45 Stockton St. Co-sponsored by the library, Princeton Senior Resource Center and Viva Tango.
Flavors of Princeton: “Silver Linings” Edition Tuesday, Oct. 29, 10 a.m. Michael LaCorte, executive chef of the Nassau Inn, prepares his own version of the crabby snacks and cheesesteak sliders mentioned in “The Silver Linings Playbook” and gives ideas for appetizers for any game day. Community Room In Our Own Voice Wednesday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m. Speakers share personal stories about living with mental illness and achieving recovery in this program developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Audience feedback and questions are encouraged. In Our Own Voice is
an opportunity for those who have struggled with mental illness to gain confidence and to share their individual experiences of recovery and transformation. NAMI considers audience participation one of the most important aspects of the presentation. “The more audience members become involved, the closer they come to understanding what it is like to live with a mental illness and stay in recovery,” the organization says. Community Room Co-sponsored by the library and NAMI of Mercer County.
Story Slam: “Silver Linings” Edition Tuesday, Nov 12, 7 p.m. In any life situation, funny or sad, a silver lining can likely be found. We want to hear about a time when you found a silver lining when it was least expected. Bring your prepared story (or poem) of three minutes or less to share with the audience. Reading will be heard on a first-come first-served basis as time allows. Community Room
THIRD QUARTER
LITERARY Discussion questions 1. How does Pat’s vision of his own silver lining evolve over the course of the novel? 2. In what ways does Pat sometimes appear more mentally stable than his family and friends during his recovery process? Do you view his optimism as a sign of sanity? 3. Pat thinks his life is a movie destined to end happily. In sharp contrast, he discovers that great works of American literature almost always end on a sad note. Why are so many classic reads depressing? 4. Cliff and Pat disagree about whether sad books should be required reading for students. What’s your opinion? What books were you drawn to when you were younger? Do Pat’s deep feelings about what literature high school students read have merit? 5. How important is the setting to the story? Are Philadelphia Eagles fans unique? Or, are they interchangeable with any other football team? 6. What does Pat learn about himself during the violent incident with the Giants fan (Steve)? 7. What is the relationship between Pat and his dad? Why is it so difficult for the father to show emotion? Discuss the use of football as a means of engagement between men, in general.
8. If you have seen the movie, do you think the difference in the portrayal of the father figure had a significant impact on the story? Compare how Pat’s father reacted when he came home from the neural health facility in the book versus the film. 9. Were the characters of Pat and Tiffany realistic and believable? Did anyone else exhibit behaviors that could be considered unstable? 10. In your opinion, are Pat’s sessions with Cliff effective in terms of Pat gaining perspective and moving on? 11. The present women in Pat’s life, his mom and Tiffany, have different approaches to getting Pat to move forward. Discuss the way his mom tries to protect him from learning more about his past, while Tiffany is more direct in questioning why he wants to hold on to Nikki. 12. Have you discussed any of the classic works of literature mentioned in “The Silver Linings Playbook” with a book group? Would you enjoy having Pat as a member of a group talking about “The Scarlet Letter,” “The Bell Jar,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” or “The Catcher in the Rye”?
Other titles by Matthew Quick “Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock” (2013) “Boy21” (2012) “Sorta Like A Rock Star” (2010)
Classic books mentioned in “The Silver Linings Playbook” “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain “The Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger
‘Silver Linings Playbook’ on the Big Screen
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ominated for eight Academy Awards, with one win for Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence/Tiffany), “Silver Linings Playbook” opened in theaters in 2012. Audiences fell in love with the quirky romantic comedy based on Matthew Quick’s 2008 debut novel. Featuring Lawrence, Bradley Cooper as Pat, and Robert DeNiro as Pat Sr., and directed and written by David O. Russell, the film did have its critics in terms of how true it stayed to the book. While there are some minor changes, like the change of the song that triggers Pat’s visceral response from “Songbird” by Kenny G to Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour,” and the expanded role of Pat’s friend, Danny (Chris Tucker) for extra comic relief, the major change is the character of Pat’s father, played by a loveable Robert DeNiro. Readers strongly feel the strain of the father-son relationship. In the book, Pat Sr. isolates himself from his son. There’s no sense of warmth or engagement, unless it has to do with the Eagles. By contrast, the film opens with Pat’s dad welcoming him home, and throughout the film, he tries to connect with his son by asking him to watch a game, and expressing feelings of guilt about not spending enough time with him when he was growing up. The character of Pat Sr. in the book would not think of displaying such emotion. The cinematic character comes across as a completely different person than the one in the book. There are other differences, too, of course. How could screenwriters include everything contained in the pages of a book? Films are an entirely different medium, and filmmakers have their own vision and means of execution. “Silver Linings Playbook,” the film and the book, both have something unique to offer their audience.
FOURTH QUARTER
RESOURCES Mental health “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” fifth ed (DSM-5) Ref 616.89 Dia “Family Guide to Mental Health Care” by Lloyd I. Sederer (2013) Non-F 616.89 Sed “Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety” by Daniel B. Smith (2012) Non-F 616.852 Smi National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) nccam.nih.gov National Institute of Mental Health nimh.nih.gov National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) namimercer.org Features the latest information on mental illnesses, medication and treatment and resources for support and advocacy. Other features include online discussion groups and fact sheets. NAMI Information HelpLine nami.org/helpline 800.950.6264 Receiving more than 5,000 monthly requests from individuals needing support, referral, and information, featuring more than 60 fact sheets on a variety of topics with referrals to NAMI’s network of affiliates in communities across the country.
StrengthofUs.org An online social community for teens and young adults living with mental illness. “An Unquiet Mind” by Kay R. Jamison (1997) Non-F 616.895 Jam “What is Mental Illness?” By Richard J. McNally Non-F 616.89 McN
Football “America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation” by Michael MacCambridge (2004) Non-F 796.332 Mac “Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football” by Nicholas Davidoff (Coming 11/19/13) “The Last Headbangers: NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless ‘70s, the Era that Created Modern Sports” by Kevin Cook (2012) Non-F 796.332 Coo “The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big Time College Football” by Jeff Benedict (2013) Non-F 796 Ben “War Without Death: A Year of Cutthroat Competition in Pro Football’s NFC East” by Mark Maske (2007) Non-F 796.332 Mas
Mental Illness: An Overview
Excerpted with permission from NAMI, Mental Illness: What You Need to Know Mental illnesses are medical conditions that can disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are brain-based conditions that often result in a variety of symptoms that can affect daily life. Mental illnesses include depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, borderline personality disorder and others. One in four adults — approximately 60 million Americans— experiences a mental health disorder in a given year. One in 17 lives with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder and about one in 10 children lives with a serious mental or emotional disorder. When people are diagnosed with mental illness, finding effective medical and psychiatric care is the first priority. But once such treatment begins, individuals living with mental health challenges and their families soon discover that the illness affects many aspects of their lives-and that they need more than medical help. Services to optimize recovery usually include some combination of psychosocial supports (e.g., family involvement, work or school support, psychotherapy and self- management strategies) and medications (to reduce symptom intensity). Unfortunately, fewer than one-third of adults and one-half of children with diagnosed mental health disorders receive treatment every year.
No single, coordinated system of services for mental health care exists across the United States. When someone is diagnosed with mental illness, and if the individual is severely disabled, the person’s family often assists in managing the person’s comprehensive care. Although the service system is often fragmented, support groups of other NAMI families and people living with mental illness who have faced the same challenges exist in every state to share experience and knowledge. Every person with mental illness requires his/her own treatment plan tailored to a specific situation. NAMI recommends that individuals consider some combination of medication, psychotherapy and lifestyle choices along with community supports to facilitate robust recovery. Recovery is a holistic process that integrates hope and strengths with services. Recovery from mental illness also includes attaining, and maintaining, physical health as another cornerstone of wellness. Finding a trustworthy and experienced health care provider is key, and discussing medication options is paramount after diagnosis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) periodically approves medications. For a current list, visit www.fda.gov. Mental illness affects every aspect of life and presents many challenges to individuals and their families. People who struggle with mental health conditions need community support and continuity of care to move toward recovery.
About Eagles Fans
Excerpts from “If Football’s a Religion, Why Don’t We Have a Prayer?” by Jere Longman (HarperCollins)
“In this crucible of failure, a peculiar fan identity had been forged. It seemed to me a tumultuous contradiction. This was a city with hopeful, utopian Quaker roots, but fans suffered a Puritan’s bleak, vengeful deprivation. They remained forever expectant but believed they were jinxed, cursed, doomed. They cheered with ecstatic release when the Eagles won, but relished sour booing when the Eagles lost. They were audaciously confident and grimly insecure. They dismissed rivals as flawed and quaked beneath false bravado. They longed for ultimate victory and feared also-ran defeat. Each season, early triumph brought hope of transcendent achievement and worry of imminent disaster. When failure did not arrive immediately,
the city swelled with an irrational ebullience. Like the eye of a hurricane, though, this provided false harbor, and soon came the howling, backhand slap of betrayal.” “Philadelphians rooted with a dyspeptic resilience, with a coarse resolve fueled by alcohol and talk radio and ulcered by discontent, with a bottomless craving malnourished by a heartburn diet of misfortune. It was different in other places. Buffalo lost four Super Bowls in the 1990s, but at least the Bills reached football’s definitive game. Cleveland hadn’t claimed any professional titles since 1964, but it had fewer teams than Philadelphia, and anyway, the Browns’ championship that remote season came four years after the
Eagles last won. The Chicago Cubs existed as lovable losers. And until the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, ending a drought that had lasted since 1918, their vain yearning was romanticized and intellectualized, their inadequacy as much a literary failure as an athletic shortcoming. In Philadelphia, defeat was not scholarly or rhapsodized. It was visceral and loud and staggering with too many beers.” “The stereotype of the Eagles fan resided like a fly trapped in amber. Angry, unruly, menacing. Sure, the fans could be surly. They embraced this gruffness as a homefield advantage, and sometimes they seemed to behave with a churlish snarl mostly to preserve their reputation. But this surliness had become a cartoon portrait. A wounded passion accompanied this hostility.” “However brusque, Eagles fans possessed a cockeyed faithfulness. They returned every year. Eagles fans said they would never come back, but they always did, even when their ardor was gut-shot by torment. The league held out the possibility that every
team could win every year because of scheduled parity. In Philadelphia, people recognized this as the dangling of a poisoned carrot. Suffering was necessary, unavoidable. Fans expected disappointment and tried to hold back their hearts so the next letdown would not feel so crippling, but they could not hold back and they carried beneath this fear an injured hope that the worst would not happen and things might finally, somehow, turn out for the best.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to thank NAMI Mercer for their collaboration, insight, inspiration and for granting us permission to utilize their resources. Special thanks to the Princeton Public Schools community for facilities support and to Superintendent Judy Wilson for helping to spread the word about “The Silver Linings Playbook” and “Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock” among students, faculty and staff. Thanks to the Princeton High School Boosters Club and Cheerleaders for help at the Pep Rally. Thanks to Princeton University for supplying prizes for our kickoff event and to the Princeton University Band for performing at the rally. Additional thanks go to the entire Princeton community, retailers and organizations, particularly the Princeton Senior Resources Center, for their continued support of Princeton Reads. Princeton Reads Coordinator: Janie Hermann Princeton Reads Committee: Erica Bess, Susan Conlon, Kim Dorman, Kristin Friberg, Janet Hauge, Shelly Hawk, Hana Lee, Andre Levie, Timothy Quinn and Allison Santos The Playbook was produced by Kristin Friberg, Janet Hauge and Tim Quinn Princeton Reads is made possilbe through funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.