This Is Where I Leave You - A Book Review

As a beginning writer, I have had many moments of hesitation before putting pen to paper, scared to paint a character too honestly lest someone be offended. Tropper's writing is stellar because he clearly doesn't hold back and his characters jump off the page, making the reader nod with recognition and laugh at the same time. Who else could describe his wife's lover as, "Wade is tall and beefy, with dark, wiry hair and a cleft that makes his chin look like a tiny ass. His teeth are a shade of white not found in nature. At forty, Wade still references his fraternity brothers like they matter, still evaluates passing breasts aloud, still calls them tits." Or paint his childhood neighbor by saying, "She's a pear shaped woman with an easy smile, and there's something vaguely rodent-like about her, not in a feral way, but more like a wise mother rat from a Disney cartoon, the sort that will sit in a tiny rocking chair and wear little rat glasses and be voiced by Judy Dench or Hellen Mirren. A kindly, regal, Academy Award-winning rat." Every character introduced, from the grave digger to his mother, receives the same detailed attention, and makes reading this novel like watching a perfectly cast movie.

When I heard about the plot of this book, a dysfunctional family comes together to sit shiva for their father, I had little desire to read it, not wanting to subject myself to another depressing read. But although the main character's life is falling apart and the premise is depressing, there is an underlying positive message in every scene, nestled under the humor and the pain. This is a book about family, about those who know all of your faults, all the mistakes you've made since toddlerhood, and who still love you and claim you.

As I write this review, flipping through the book for other passages to share with you, without ruining too much of the plot, I get sucked into reading it all over again. Scene after scene pulls me in, getting me to laugh anew. This Is Where I Leave You is, quite simply, the best book I've read in a long time. It is entertaining, beautifully written and inspirational. It will appeal to readers of all genres: my husband who normally only reads James Patterson, my literary snobby friends, and even the ladies in my book club. I can't recommend it highly enough. Get your hands on a copy today.