This Is Where I Leave You: Summary and book reviews of This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, plus links to an excerpt from This Is Where I Leave You and a biography of Jonathan Tropper.
This Is Where I Leave You
by Jonathan Tropper
Hardcover: Aug 2009,
352 pages.
Paperback: Jul 2010,
352 pages.
The death of Judd Foxman’s father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family—including Judd’s mother, brothers, and sister—have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd’s wife, Jen, whose fourteen-month affair with Judd’s radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.
Simultaneously mourning the death of his father and the demise of his marriage, Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch’s dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.
As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions reawakened. For Judd, it’s a weeklong attempt to make sense of the mess his life has become while trying in vain not to get sucked into the regressive battles of his madly dysfunctional family. All of which would be hard enough without the bomb Jen dropped the day Judd’s father died: She’s pregnant.
This Is Where I Leave You is Jonathan Tropper's most accomplished work to date, a riotously funny, emotionally raw novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind—whether we like it or not.
BOOK REVIEWS
BookBrowse
Be warned: you will laugh. You may not always be proud of why you're laughing, but unless you're a paragon of virtue who can resist all urges to indulge in a little schadenfreude, you will laugh. Laughter aside, however, beneath Tropper's wicked sense of humor there is a universal substructure of wisdom that is applicable to all families and blood relationships. Read it and weep… and laugh. (Reviewed by Donna Chavez). Full Review (926 words).
Media Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Tropper strikes an excellent balance between the family history and its present-day fallout, proving his ability to create touchingly human characters and a deliciously page-turning story.
Kirkus Reviews
Tropper...has covered this man-child territory before, but few can rival his poignant depictions of damaged men befuddled by the women they love.
Library Journal
Starred Review. Highly recommended for Tropper fans, who will rejoice at the opportunity to indulge; others will wonder where he's been all their lives.
USA Today
How bracing and refreshing to read something from the male perspective. . . . Tropper gets men. He's a more sincere, insightful version of Nick Hornby, that other master of male psyche.
The New York Times
…smartly comic novel …Although Mr. Tropper's dialogue here is fast and fresh, his book also has ballast…Still, this author's strong suit is wisecracks, the more irreverent the better. And he gives snarky allure to Judd's observations.
The Washington Post - Carolyn See
This is a beautiful novel about men -- their lust and rage and sweetness. Read it -- or take it as a gift -- when you next go on a dreaded family holiday
Entertainment Weekly
[A] magnificently funny family saga... since the menschy soulfulness that infuses Tropper's writing may be this brimming novel's most delicate gift of all, I urge with all my heart and kishkes: Read this one! Read and weep with laughter.
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(926 words).
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