shelfimprovement's review
4.0
Over the last few years, Jonathan Tropper has asserted himself something of a master of the genre I like to call Novels About Middle-Aged Suburban Men Whose Lives Aren't Awful, Just Unsatisfying. His latest, though, was surprisingly satisfying. I was a little underwhelmed by This is Where I Leave You, but I think that was mostly because of where I was in my life more than anything about the book itself. With that in mind, I did approach this with a small amount of skepticism but ultimately I came away with a nice, healthy dose of the feels.
The set-up here is just a little darker. Drew Silver is a washed-up one-hit-wonder playing the wedding-and-mitzvah circuit. His ex-wife Denise is getting remarried to a guy Silver can't bring himself to hate, and his teenage daughter Casey has just announced she's pregnant. He lives in an apartment building with a bunch of other middle-aged men whose wives have left them and together they make weekly trips to sell their semen to medical research. He cruises through life more or less on autopilot, not really noticing the hurt caused by his lack of engagement.
Then Silver has a ministroke and an aneurysm, diagnosed by his ex-wife's new fiancee Rich. Equal parts pride and surrender prevent him from allowing Rich to repair the tear in his aorta, meaning that Silver could literally die at any second. He's okay with that, because he's lost everything that's ever meant anything to him and he doesn't see how life is ever going to have meaning again. Then Casey reveals her pregnancy, admitting that she's telling Silver before her mother because she's less concerned about letting him down. So Silver decides that in the time he has left, he needs to make up for eighteen years of crummy fathering.
The first chunk of the book is a little too full of hyperbole and testosterone for my taste -- Silver and his fortysomething buddies ogling young women with perfectly taut everythings while exchanging excessively witty one-liners. After a while, though, Tropper finds his groove and the book finds the right balance between poignant and schmaltzy. You start to sympathize with Silver, genuinely root for this man who has never proven to be anything but an apathetic fuck-up. And yet he's anything but unlikable. There's maybe a little flash of George Bailey here, as Silver learns what he means to the people in his life, yet it never quite falls over into excessive sentiment.
The set-up here is just a little darker. Drew Silver is a washed-up one-hit-wonder playing the wedding-and-mitzvah circuit. His ex-wife Denise is getting remarried to a guy Silver can't bring himself to hate, and his teenage daughter Casey has just announced she's pregnant. He lives in an apartment building with a bunch of other middle-aged men whose wives have left them and together they make weekly trips to sell their semen to medical research. He cruises through life more or less on autopilot, not really noticing the hurt caused by his lack of engagement.
Then Silver has a ministroke and an aneurysm, diagnosed by his ex-wife's new fiancee Rich. Equal parts pride and surrender prevent him from allowing Rich to repair the tear in his aorta, meaning that Silver could literally die at any second. He's okay with that, because he's lost everything that's ever meant anything to him and he doesn't see how life is ever going to have meaning again. Then Casey reveals her pregnancy, admitting that she's telling Silver before her mother because she's less concerned about letting him down. So Silver decides that in the time he has left, he needs to make up for eighteen years of crummy fathering.
The first chunk of the book is a little too full of hyperbole and testosterone for my taste -- Silver and his fortysomething buddies ogling young women with perfectly taut everythings while exchanging excessively witty one-liners. After a while, though, Tropper finds his groove and the book finds the right balance between poignant and schmaltzy. You start to sympathize with Silver, genuinely root for this man who has never proven to be anything but an apathetic fuck-up. And yet he's anything but unlikable. There's maybe a little flash of George Bailey here, as Silver learns what he means to the people in his life, yet it never quite falls over into excessive sentiment.
kerrynicole72's review
4.0
The first 50 pages or so I kept thinking "bleh, who cares about this loser.". Then all of a sudden you're just rooting for everyone to fix their mistakes and find something worth sticking around for. Well done!
lauraa06's review
3.0
Very funny writer - he can take a painful topic (death, divorce, serious illness) and highlight it with quirky yet real characters and snappy dialogue. A good writer for guys who like to read.
suzannefine's review
4.0
I read This is Where I Leave You several years ago, and the rest of Jonathan Tropper's books have been on my to-read list. If you were a fan of This... I think you will like this as well. It's an emotional story (I found myself in tears at times), with wit and humor in there as well.
I highly suggest this.
I highly suggest this.
tearsofthetinman's review
4.0
A quick read for me and an easy read. The style is fluid and very much on the nose for some of the angst that middle age brings for men. It won't win any literature prizes but it was fun while it lasted :)
biglibraryenergy's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
naturalee's review
3.0
This was a hard read for me, particularly because of the raw depictions of life, people's bodies, and their objectification. Hallway through, I could say I didn't like it. By the end, I wanted to dislike it, but it was not the case.
sharondblk's review
4.0
Maybe actually 3.5.
I enjoyed this book, Tropper writes well and I developed an affection for all the characters in the book, even if some, such a Silver the main character were deliberately written as not entirely likeable.
There was a lot of internal thinking, and the book might have benefited from a little less of that.
I loved the ending - avoiding spoilers here - I thought it was measured, well thought out and perfect for the book.
I enjoyed this book, Tropper writes well and I developed an affection for all the characters in the book, even if some, such a Silver the main character were deliberately written as not entirely likeable.
There was a lot of internal thinking, and the book might have benefited from a little less of that.
I loved the ending - avoiding spoilers here - I thought it was measured, well thought out and perfect for the book.