This Is Where I Leave You

By: Jonathan Tropper

Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

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 14-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.

©2009 Jonathan Tropper (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"The affectionate, warts-and-all portrayal of the Foxmans will have fans wishing for a sequel (and clamoring for all things Tropper)." (Amazon.com review)
"Tropper strikes an excellent balance between the family history and its present-day fallout, proving his ability to create touchingly human characters and a deliciously page-turning story." ( Publishers Weekly)

skeevy and immature

there is certainly pain and anguish within the words, however, between every sentence of something touching or painfully honest, is a paragraph about how much our protagonist would much rather be having sex.

The ramshackle story is never long without mention of some type of depraved sexual reference. It manages to be from the point of view of a bitter middle aged man, and a horny bright eyed fifteen year old. The two styles DO NOT mesh well and wound up making me feel hatred towards the protagonist and sorry for the people around him.

So good

If you saw the movie and were underwhelmed, reading this book will make you realize why so many amazing actors signed up for it. It's bright and witty and honest and heartfelt. Can you ever go home again? Can people really change?
The narrator was amazing as well. Highly recommend.

TOO MUC INFORMATION

I try to find something about a main character to admire or empasize with. But, in this story, I felt nothing but disgust and loathing for him. Having walked in on his wife in their marital bed, vigourously engaged in the arms of his boss, naturally was devastating. But, farther into the story, I began to feel empathy for the wife. The main character was so busy describing how perfecect he thought his relationship was with his wife, it became clear that he hadn't a clue as to if she was just as pleased with their relationship. She married into an extremely dysfunctional family, who each were content to distance themselves from each other for various reasons. With the death of their father, each of the syblings, grudgingly agreed to participate in a seven-day ceremony which forced them to be together. The author went out of his way, in my opinion, to shock the readers by describing the most intimate and sometimes, disgusting sexual topics in every paragraph. Nevertheless, I didn't give up on the story. And, as I suspected, even at the end, I was blessed with yet, another shocker.

Very funny - but sometimes very real

This was a very entertaining book. I was really enjoying this and then I started to think about the relationships I have with my siblings. It forces us to think about the importance of family and recognize that we all have some "quirks" within our family. I truly appreciataed the honesty of the story.

This would make a great movie

Would you consider the audio edition of This Is Where I Leave You to be better than the print version?

Yes. There are parts of the book that are just better being heard with the inflections and interpretation of the narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of This Is Where I Leave You?

The cake scene. I laughed so hard, I nearly had to pull my car over. Trust me, you'll understand when you get to it.

Which scene was your favorite?

Again, the cake scene. So didn't see it coming and thought it was hysterical. Not sure if the male readers will feel the same...

If you could rename This Is Where I Leave You, what would you call it?

I was thinking halfway through that this could be a good movie if adapted right. But haven't figured out the right title yet...

Any additional comments?

It's alternatively funny, touching, sad, and depressing. It runs the gamut of emotions, but overall not as funny as I had expected. Still it was a good time.

Delightful - funny and touching

This is a delightful book and it is read just beautifully. The plot focuses on the recent death of the patriarch of a Jewish family and how all his grown children come home with their families to sit Shiva for 7 days. There are all sorts of dynamics among them – adultery, anger, whatever – and it all gradually comes to the surface. The book is hilarious (would make a great movie) and the one liners are priceless and yet there is depth (not too much but enough to be touching). Once I really got into it I couldn't put it down and seem to walk around all day with my iPod trying to see what happens. I highly recommend it.

Very Clever

I really enjoyed it, kept me laughing until the very end. Some of the character relationships irritated me.

Hysterical! Loved it!

Hysterical! I seriously horse laughed at certain parts of this book! It's real life humor and situations that I loved so much that I immediately bought his book How to Talk to a Widower. Btw, the movie was not near as good as the book.

Crazy family like everyone's

This is so unexpected. A funny crazy family funeral that reminds them that as crazy as they all are there is love.

Good book with big flaws

There was so much to like about this book. The main character is Judd, returning to his family home after his father's death. In the house where he grew up, his mother, sister, two brothers, and various extended family members and friends gather to observe shiva, the traditional Jewish period of mourning, his father's final wish. So the widow and her four adult children are restricted to the house for seven days. Judd comes already nursing wounds as his marriage falls apart. He arrives ready to face the overt conflicts and the hidden resentments of a very dysfunctional family.

What I liked about the book was the detailed and wry observations Judd makes as he recounts the seven days that make up the entire course of the novel. He is wrestling with himself, trying to understand his new life after separating from his wife of ten years as he comes to terms with the loss of his father. The coincidence of these two life-altering events means Judd must redefine himself as a man.

I have to say that Ramon De Ocampo brought a great deal of skill to his narration. It seems to start out as rather flat but I realized he was giving voice to Judd's tamped down feelings. As times moves on, Judd relaxes a little as does De Ocampo's performance and he voices perfectly Judd's self-appointed role as observer and commentator on what happens around him. Judd's deadpan style is perfectly portrayed by De Ocampo.

There are two things I don't care for in this book. First, I think the women are rather weakly drawn. Not that they don't have their fair share of shock and awe, as when his mother, a famous parenting authority, voices her opinion about sex, marriage, children and almost anything else that pops into her mind. But I don't get much depth there. His sister is almost nonexistent. His soon-to-be ex-wife is little more than the object of his angst and his hometown girlfriend, revisted for some rebound sex, is only quickly sketched in.

The second thing is the use of shiva without much acknowledgement of the role of faith in mourning. Judaism here is little more than a lox-and-bagel identification even when a rabbi is a close friend to Judd and his brothers. At best, shiva is a mechanism by which Tropper works out Judd's self-examination. Even the rabbi's explanation of shiva is brief, sterile, and lacking in warmth or consolation. Without that, it isn't recognizable as any shiva I have experienced.

Despite that, it was a good read. I just can't count it as much more than that.