"I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood. And you know, nobody was expected to be a novelist — that was not a thing, that was not a choice in my neighborhood. And when I made that choice, it was very strange to people. And it was a really hard thing for people to accept and my father and my grandfather did not understand that at all. And they discouraged me. But then once I succeeded, they really claimed that, and my grandfather would tell everyone…"

Matthew Quick (The Silver Linings Playbook) joins guest host Allyson Gavaletz to talk about his new novel, We Are the Light, along with breaking cycles, writer's block, connecting with people, collective trauma, running, Jungian analysis, the books and writers he loves to teach, his literary influences, what's next for him and more. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.

Featured Books (Episode):

We Are the Light by Matthew Quick

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Allyson Gavaletz and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).