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)

Excellent

I loved this audiobook and couldn't stop listening. The story is laugh-out-loud funny at times, and other times sad and moving. This book reminded me of David Sedaris's writing, if Sedaris were Jewish and wrote fiction. The narrator was excellent as well.

Good book and great movie!

I liked the book but ending up moving on to something else and forgot about it until I wanted to watch the movie. The book is good don't get me wrong but the movie is great. The movie had a lot of good actors and actresses in it which made it all the better. :)

Surprisingly the best read in years

I am not Jewish, not a middle aged man (or a man at all for that matter!), and have never been in any sort of marital crisis... but I identified so deeply with the main character. This is such an endearing story of love, loss, and family. I laughed through most of the narrative and cried in a few touching, honest moments. I am on my way to buy hard copies of this book for my brother and sister. Well done.... it’s early, but I know this will be a contender for favorite book of 2018.

Review

It's fun and some good laughs. Absurd situations that are like Larry David. Good way to spend time when driving and not interested in concentrating.

Funny & Touching!

I really enjoyed the story and it I hope that the movie follows the book, but I bet it won't!

Still thinking of the Foxman family

I finished listening to this book a week ago and it is still on my mind. The story is terrific and would be a good read, but then you would miss the superb narration by Ramon de Ocampo who really brings the Foxman family to life. A definite 5 star listen.

Full of Great One Liners and Amusing Insights

this was my first jonathan tropper book..not sure where i've been. but now i know what i've been missing. there were some great great one liners in this book. so many that i found myself bookmarking an over abundance of pages...with multiple marks on each page. by the time i got 1/3 of the way in, i stopped bothering...realizing that the entire novel was basically mark worthy.

judd, the narrator, was relatable in a depressing sort of way. self depricating, lost, sorry and sad...and speaking the voice of my generation. ramon de ocampo had the perfect voice to display the inner workings of judd...snarky and sad at the same time.

i laughed a lot, i also cringed a lot. the true-ness of the way tropper writes is at the same time eye opening and also upsetting.

so, this family was nothing like mine...but i don't care. they are obviously all caricatures. each one more deliberately miserable, discontented, and awful to each other....then alternately sensitive and loving in a way that reminds you of relationships you wish you had. anyway, all of this just contributes to the greatness of this story. it makes for a truly interesting dynamic filled with laughable and poignant interactions...all topped off by judd's truly insightful punch lines.

i could easily see this novel being turned into a film...hope that actually happens.

Oye, what a classic

If you are the non-Jew in a mixed marriage, this is the book you could write--don't do it. In truth, it takes a Jew to write it, otherwise it could be criticized as anti-Semitic. This is a well written confabulation of the dynamics of not atypical Jewish families (no one family could could contain all the complexities of this one). I have long enjoyed my take on such dynamics being the non-Jew in a 30+ year mixed marriage. This being a book, I feel free to laugh and cry at (and with) the characters portrayed. In real life such responses sometimes come with a price. The match of story and narrator is perfect.

Loved it!

Excellent story and narration. The writing was fast-paced, clever, and entertaining. I might even listen to this one again!

loved it

I loved it and literally laughed out loud! I would definitely recommend to a friend.