The Book of Joe: A Novel

Joe Grossman is going home. Not that Bush Falls is likely to give him a warm welcome. His incendiary best-selling novel, and the big budget film based on it, have pretty much guaranteed that the seventeen years and the two and a half hour driving distance between Bush Falls and Joe’s apartment in Manhattan is still not long enough or far enough for Joe to be away from home. But a dying father has called him home.

It doesn’t help that Joe’s current writing has not been going well. His agent is less than thrilled with the manuscript he’s just submitted and more than hints that the difficult second novel often produces sub-standard efforts. He too thinks Joe needs to go back to Bush Falls and confront whatever demons are preventing show more him from writing the way he did with his first novel, the one in which he got even with the town for the horrible events that took place during his senior year in high school.

Jonathan Tropper set ups numerous opportunities for comic set pieces, verbal gunfire, and awkwardness to the nth degree. But the surprising thing is how this comic novel turns on itself to become a poignant examination of death, dying, love and remorse. It borders on being insightful and profound, and if it doesn’t quite get there (the incessant drive for the zinger is an inherently constraining, conservative impulse) it at least suggests that Tropper might have the potential for some real show stoppers down the line. Which is recommendation enough for me. show less

Brief Description: Joe Goffman left his small Connecticut town of Bush Falls after high school and never went back—except in his creative life when he wrote a novel called Bush Falls that is a thinly disguised account of his life growing up in the town. The book was a bestseller and was made into a movie. It also pissed off a lot of people in Bush Falls who didn’t appreciate the way that Joe depicted them. Now Joe’s father is on his death bed, and Joe must return to the Bush Falls and face the consequences of his book, his abandonment of the people he left behind and the choices he made in the past. He’s also forced to confront the writer’s block he’s faced since Bush Falls was published.

My Thoughts: I’ve been wanting to show more read another Tropper book ever since falling in love with This Is Where I Leave You. Although I didn’t think The Book of Joe was as strong as This Is Where I Leave You, it deals with many of the same themes: loss of a parent, reconciling with the past, family dysfunction and regret. Tropper is a master of putting his protagnoists in horrible uncomfortable situations and having them twist and turn (often very amusingly) until they are able to grow and mature and finally deal with all the crap they’ve ignored for too long. I enjoy how Tropper is really writing tragedies but gives them a comedic edge that keeps you laughing. It is difficult to straddle this line, but Tropper does it skillfully. I’m definitely going to continue reading his books. show less

This book reminds me of running down a steep hill. At some point the momentum just carries you no matter what crazy things you are tripping and jumping over. I usually hate any kind of book(or movie for that matter) that feels like it is an industry book. Usually, I won't read a fiction book about a writer because it just all feels far too insidery and unimaginative. This is an exception to that rule. I really liked the characters in this book and even as events got more and more over the top I felt like Tropper kept me invested in the characters and their feelings. Its a fast read - and probably not for everyone but I really enjoyed it.

Joe Goffman, who fled his hometown of Bush Falls after graduating high school and has not been back since, has returned after his father suffers a stroke. Joe is infamous in his hometown. He has hit the big time, so to speak, after writing a best-selling book based on Bush Falls, which in turn was optioned into a movie. Unfortunately, the residents of Bush Falls don't look so favorably on him, so his homecoming is less than ideal.

I am gradually making my way through Jonathan Tropper's books, and I do have to say that Tropper is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I love his sense of humor and the witty banter between his characters. While this one was probably not my favorite of his thus far, and I'm starting to see somewhat of a show more pattern with his stories, I still really enjoyed this one. My only regret was that I listened to the abridged audiobook. It was a good abridgment as far as abridgments go, but I think I would've enjoyed an unedited, unabridged version even more. show less

Memorable plot, though not without Questions:

1. If Everyone in this small Bush town knows Everything that happens,
why did No One move on Sean's attempted murder of Joe?

2. The only truly awkward and improbable plot twist is yet another Sean Encounter,
this time at The Falls where Sammy died.

3. Problems with Joe -= why does the rich man give NOTHING to any charity or set up his own?
= Given his ongoing physical weakness, notably in his inability to protect Sammy from Sean and Mouse,
why does he never, ever take up a Martial Art to learn to defend himself and earn much needed credibility
with both his older brother and his father...?

Jared, Wayne, and Owen ended up being favored characters.

A book club member selected this, and it didn't sound terribly interesting. I loved it. Joe is a mess and doesn't get too much better during the course of the novel, but the characters are vivid and often funny, sometimes heartbreaking. A very different type of book from what I usually read, I found it refreshing and didn't want to put it down.

I have to admit, I wasn't sure about this one at first. I mean it's about a guy who writes a novel about his home town and then returns 17 years later. When I heard that, I thought it must be cheesy, right? Actually, no. The way it played out was quite unexpected. I recommend reading it yourself.