Jonathan Tropper

What a fantastic book. It made me want to cry almost as much as it made me laugh hysterically. Tropper writes quick, witty banter between all of the characters as well as thoughtful, meandering soliloquies from the main character, down-on-his-luck rock drummer Silver, which work together in a really realistic way. I found myself rooting for Silver even though, just like with everyone he interacted with in the book, he gave me more than enough reasons to dislike him.

Nobody writes comedic tragedies quite like Jonathan Tropper. He gives his characters these horribly depressing situations to live through (in this book, aging rock star Silver has messed up his life and his relationship with his family and then gets the news that he could die at any second), but the books are so funny that I think of them as humorous books rather than sad ones. As Silver struggles to come to terms with his ex-wife’s remarriage, his teenage daughter’s pregnancy and the show more realities of his life and limited future, Tropper treads on ground that will simultaneously break your heart but make you snort out loud with laughter. I don’t quite know Tropper pulls off this balancing act but he does and I just love it. show less

Zack King is over 30. He has a job that pays well but that gives no satisfaction. He has a really rich friend, Jed, who lets him share his great house in Manhattan. He has an extremely beautiful (and rich) girlfriend who is about to become his fiancé. He has a brother who is a punk rock musician. He’s got another brother who is mentally challenged but to whom Zack is the greatest brother and friend. His best friend, Rael, died in a car crash two years earlier, which Zack survived. His show more best friend had an infant child named Sophie whom Zack visits frequently and delights. He even changes her diapers when called upon. Sophie’s mom is the all too gorgeous Tamara, who doesn’t deserve the grief she’s had to suffer. Fortunately Zack has been there throughout to help her with Sophie and with her loss of Rael. Oh, yes, and Zack has daddy issues due to an absconding father who left him and his brothers in the lurch when they were children. Needless to say, complications ensue.

Jonathan Tropper’s writing is always peppy and full of zing. His man-boy protagonist is always a real everyman (well, at least the kind of everyman we’d all like to be, right). He’s got problems. But his problems are mostly self-inflicted (how could they not be when you are as self-interested as Zack). And the solution when it comes is bound to be a violent overthrow of his self-image and the birth of his new self (because everything is really all about him, after all). And Zack will end up feeling mighty good about himself by the time we reach the end of the novel.

Very readable, high rate of box-ticking, feel-good narrative arc. Yet entirely unsatisfying. Read it on the beach, but leave it there for the tide to wash back out to sea. show less

Judd Foxman had a content, but not always perfect marriage to the woman of his dreams. And then, I guess because Life just enjoys being an asshole, Life knocks Judd down. Judd and his wife lose their first baby, which causes Judd to lose his wife to his boss, which causes Judd to lose his job. And, because Life in this book likes to remorselessly kick people while they're down, Judd loses his father to cancer. And just when you think things can't get any worse, Judd finds out that his show more atheist father's last request is for his emotionally stunted family to sit shiva, seven days for a family full of anger and resentment and unresolved issues to come together and morn. Oh, and Judd's soon to be ex-wife is pregnant. Judd is clearly Life's bitch.

To say that the Foxman family is dysfunctional is an understatement. They're nuckin' futs, folks. There's the oversexed, always inappropriate mother. The middle-aged failed-college-athlete brother. The perpetual boy-child younger brother. The bitter and sarcastic child-factory of a sister. The anxious and emotional sister-in-law desperate for her own child. The brother-in-law who is always glued to his cell phone while spitting out words like "mergers" and "net profit." And lonely, depressed Judd.

The whole dysfunctional family thing is a tricky one for me. When done well, I can't get enough. For example, I love Arrested Development, a show that got the concept just right. But This is Where I Leave You, while admittedly hilarious in spots, is just trying too hard for the laughs in others. These laughs are even harder to come by when one takes into account the angry and bitter tone that runs throughout. It seems to want to be a comedy and a thought-provoking look at mortality and family, but never hits the right balance.

I think what's lacking in the novel is Arrested Development's key to success: Michael Bluth. In a family this messed up and unlikable, you need a relatable character--one you can root for, one that you like, one whose normalcy plays straight man to the overabundance of quirky found in the other characters. I need such a lynchpin character to connect me to the others, because normally these are people I would actively avoid in real life. And Judd Foxman is not such a character. When I say he's Life's bitch, I mean it. Life happens to Judd; he seldom acts to change it or fight against it. He mopes, he whines, he thinks about sex. It's tedious as he's an underdog that I honestly believed deserved to be an underdog. Judd Foxman, you, sir, are no Michael Bluth.

So why the 3 star? There were parts I liked, moments of real, honest humor and the scenes where Judd reflects on the father he remembered and the father he lost to the unavoidable act of growing up have a real poignancy. I wish more time had been spent pursuing this aspect of the novel and less in mourning the loss of a marriage. show less