Matthew Quick wurde 1973 in Oaklyn, New Jersey geboren. Er studierte Anglistik, arbeitete als Englischlehrer, schmiss seinen Job und reiste so lange durch Südamerika und Afrika, bis er endlich den Mut aufbrachte, das zu tun, was er schon immer machen wollte: Einen Roman schreiben. Die Verfilmung seines Debüts Silver Linings gewann einen Golden Globe und wurde für 8 Oscars nominiert. Auch die Filmrechte an seinem zweiten, noch unveröffentlichten Roman wurden bereits verkauft. Matthew Quick lebt mit seiner Frau in Holden, Massachusetts.

Through the controversial, wrenching, and wildly honest Vietnam vet David Granger, Matthew Quick offers a no-nonsense but ultimately hopeful view of America's polarized psyche. By turns irascible and hilarious, insightful and inconvenient, David is a complex, wounded, honorable, and ultimately loving man.The Reason You're Alive examines how the secrets and debts we carry from our past define us.

When sixty-eight-year-old David Granger crashes his car, medical tests reveal a brain tumour that he attributes to his exposure to Agent Orange during his time serving in the Vietnam War. He wakes up from surgery repeating a name - that of a soldier whom he was long ago ordered to discipline - and with a mission: David must return something precious he stole from the man. It might be the only way to find closure in a world increasingly at odds with the one he served to protect. It might also help him recover from the loss of his wife he grieves for every day.And so, as David sets out to confront his past in order to salvage his present, a poignant portrait emerges of an opinionated and good-hearted man trying to stay true to himself, even as the country he loves is rapidly changing around him. He knows his relationship with his son, Hank, is on the rocks, and saving that is part of this mission too, if only for the sake of his adoring seven-year-old granddaughter, Ella.
Through the controversial, wrenching, and wildly honest David Granger, Matthew Quick offers a no-nonsense but ultimately hopeful view of America's polarized psyche. By turns irascible and hilarious, insightful and inconvenient, David is a complex, wounded, and ultimately loving man. The Reason You're Alive explores how the secrets we carry from our past define us, and it challenges us to look beyond our own prejudices and search for the good in others.