Author:  Jonathan Tropper

Publisher:  Dutton/Penguin

ISBN #:  978-0-525-35127-8

Type:  Fiction:General

Pages:   339 Hardback

Publish:  August 6, 2009

Website:  www.jonathantropper.com  

Purchase:  $17.13 - (HERE) 

The Story

“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.” 

(Synopsis from the front cover of This Is Where I Leave You)

The Review

The back cover of this hardback reflects praise including, “outrageous,” “smart,” “winning,” “utterly magnificent,” “genius,” “darkly comic,” “wickedly observant,” “brutally honest,” “pageturning,” and “engaging.”  What my review will say is, “Yes, all of the above.”  Not  a one of those praise words do I disagree with!  I DEVOURED THIS BOOK!  There is such honesty in which this book is written, that it entranced me.  The characters embraced me into their world of heartbreak and redemption.  This was a book that I couldn’t wait to crack back open and discover the next turn of events in the lives of the Foxman Family.

Rarely do I read a story that so accurately reflects both the humor and sorrow lying in the hearts of an American family.  Like other families, the Foxmans have hidden hurts and resentments that divide the siblings to their own separate walks of life.  The mother’s struggle to bring her family together to reconnect, leads to the opening of old wounds as well as avenues of forgiveness.  Tropper delivers both a family’s history and present-day experience in one well-timed, original story that made me feel like the fly on the wall… observing it all.  And, there’s not a piece of it that I wanted to miss.

I have read more than my fair share of books about broken marriages and family heartbreaks from a heroine’s point of view.  The protagonist in this story is Judd Foxman.  He led me to understand how a man may experience the real heartaches of life and what made him “tick.”  And, how I rooted for Judd as he navigated his way through a cheating wife, the loss of his career, the death of his father, and the survival of his dysfunctional, yet endearing, family in a 7-day shiva mourning period.  By the time that I was 3/4 of the way through the book, I knew that I would come to miss reading about the Foxman Family and had hoped for a movie version of this fantastic book.  Good news… it was optioned by Warner Brothers, so that is a possibility.  

Although the ending of this saga was perfect, one can always hope for a sequel to know what became of Judd’s life (can you see me with fingers crossed?).

So, what could I add to the adjectives on the back cover?

“Fan-Freakin’-Tastic!”

“Radiant.”

“Real.”

“Splendid.”

“Candid.”

&

“A Best of 2009!”

Lucky Readers… A Giveaway!

You will want to get yourself a copy of this one… this will be one of the most talked about books of the year!  I totally lucked out and scored a giveaway copy!  AND, not just a copy, but A SIGNED COPY!  (Lucky you!)

So… here are the rules for the contest…

Contest Opens Today & runs through August 19th, 2009

* all contest entries are due in by 5pm PST *

* 1 entry for just your comment below *

* +2 entries if your entry includes a humorous story about a family gathering *

* +1 entry if you comment about this contest on your blog *

* +1 entry if you “tweet” about the giveaway *

* +1 entry if you follow me on facebook or twitter *

* +1 entry if you follow Jonathan Tropper on twitter *

* +1 entry if you are a subscriber on Google Reader * 

The Rating

By now, you have the general idea that I LOVED the book.  What I wanted to make sure that I shared for my “PG” or “PG-13″ readers is that this book is written for adults and does contain adult (sexual) content and mature language.  For me, this only enhanced the truth of the story and didn’t bother me at all.  However, for those who prefer to avoid that, please keep this in mind.  If none of that stuff bothers you, I highly recommend it!

This book will most definitely be on A Novel Menagerie’s Best of 2009 List and I can’t wait to share this book with my best friends.  If you don’t win a copy, grab yourself a copy and enjoy it on your summer break!

My rating, genre:Fiction-General, is a 10 out of 10!

The Tour

Unfortunately, Jonathan Tropper is not coming to a city near me.  But, he may be coming to your neck of the woods.  I thought I would share his tour information with you if you’d like to meet him and get a signed copy!

Aug 11 – Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA

Aug 12 – Borders, Boston, MA

Aug 13 – Barnes & Noble, New York, NY

Aug 18 – Book Passage, San Francisco, CA

Aug 19 – A Great Good Place For Books, Oakland, CA

Aug 20 – University Bookstore, Seattle, WA

Aug 25 – Georgia Center For The Book, Atlanta, GA

Aug 27 – Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

Sep 1 – The Odessey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA

Sep 3 – Politics & Prose, Washington, DC

Sep 10 – Barnes & Noble, Glastonbury, CT

52 Responses to “Book Review & Giveaway: This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper”