This Is Where I Leave You: A Novel
by Jonathan Tropper centers on the Foxman family as they sit shiva for the family patriarch. The Foxman children come back to their childhood home toting their baggage and the seven days stretch endlessly ahead of them. Their baggage is both tangible- children and spouses and the inevitable tension they can bring to any family gathering - and psychological in the form of unresolved resentments from childhood. Hmmm . . . death with a side of dysfunctional family, anyone?Judd Foxman narrates the story; in addition to just losing his Dad to metastatic stomach cancer he has lost his job and his wife. If that doesn't sound bad enough, he walked in on his wife and his boss in his bed. For obvious reasons, he is feeling vulnerable and is hesitant to walk into a family event rife with forced conversations and emotional landmines. He has good reason to worry - the Foxman's are irreverent and seem to have no respect for each other's boundaries. As the week progresses, Judd and his siblings relive the embarrassments of their youth and try to settle old scores. The result is a collection of laugh out loud scenes that seem oddly placed amid the week-long ritual of shiva but all the more funny for it.
However, there is nothing slapstick or reductive about this humor - it is smart and funny and at the core of the story there is still a family coming to terms with the loss of their father and husband. It takes real talent to deal with both subjects simultaneously and successfully. Tropper makes keen observations amid a loss we will all face (or have faced)- the death of a parent and how it changes us and our relationships within our family. Interestingly, the Judd's father and in fact his death almost becomes a background to the family drama that plays out over the course of the week. In the end, it is really dysfunctional family with a side of death.
I am not sure my review can do this book justice - please just read it! If you need additional encouragement, please check out these reviews:
The New Dork Review of Books
Rhapsody in Books Weblog
Bookfan
The Book Chick
I read this book last year in hardcover but the paperback releases today July 6, 2010
Thanks for the link - and nice summary and review. Yeah, this book is fantastic - probably the best thing I read in 2009. Tropper's other stuff is great too, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI loved this novel - yes, set around a serious subject but laugh out loud funny while quite touching. Tropper pulled it off brilliantly. It was on my 2009 favorites list.
ReplyDeleteI'm used to my dysfunctional family stories coming at me through movies, but this sounds like a great book. Thanks for the suggestion.
ReplyDeleteI love love love Jonathan Tropper. He's one of my favorite authors. 'The Book of Joe' is definitely one of my favorites. I haven't read this particular book yet, but I do have it sitting on my shelf. I'm saving it for a rainy day because I'm sure it'll cheer me up. After reading this though I think I'm going to have to move it up my TBR pile a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI just loved this book, and agree with you that it's pretty hard to summarize, and convince people that a book about mourning could not be a downer at all!
ReplyDeleteI think I really need to read this... I've heard lots of great things about it!
ReplyDeleteI have to read this book. Thanks for the great review!
ReplyDeleteI forgot I wanted to read this. Thanks for reminding me.
ReplyDeleteWe are reading twins! I just read this book last week and adored it.
ReplyDeleteThis is on my must read list... glad to know it's out in paperback now.
ReplyDeleteI just finished this over the weekend and I just loved it. Excellent review ... Tropper does manage to skate that thin line between humor and real emotion perfectly. I thought this was a great read!!! : )
ReplyDeleteI loved this one too. I laughed out loud the whole way. It's such a fun read :-)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure what I would think about this book before I read it, but I really enjoyed it, too! It cracked me up how messed up they were but it totally worked at the same time. We read this for book club and there was only one person who didn't like it that much! :)
ReplyDeleteThis has been on my list for awhile. I need to get my hands on it :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard several people say this book is smart and funny - it's in my TBR pile, and it sounds like I need to get to it soon!
ReplyDeleteOh ... I did read your review before! You did a good job with it.
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