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.
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).
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.
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.
Sitting Shiva
The word "shiva" (pronounced SHIHvah) is derived from the Hebrew word sheva which means "seven." Sitting shiva means that the family of a loved one – usually reserved for the family of a deceased spouse, parent or child – gathers in that loved one's home for seven days. Friends and family visit to support the family as they take time to mourn, and to remember the life of the deceased. While they may not observe the more orthodox practices outlined below, many Jewish families retain the spirit of the tradition in the form of an extended wake, in which friends and family stop by to share memories and grieve together.
Members of the immediate family sit on chairs that are low to the ground – historically they used to sit on the ground – and wait as friends, family and acquaintances visit to pay their respects. A memorial candle is kept lit for the duration as a symbol of the deceased's eternal soul. Mirrors are covered to remove emphasis from the physical self and turn the focus to the soul, prayer, and God....
A Fraction of the Whole is an uproarious indictment of the modern world and its mores - a rollicking rollercoaster ride from obscurity to infamy, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings.
Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface in another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.
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