This is Where I Leave You Book Review — Darkly Funny, Emotionally Heavy, A Must Read

Judd Foxman has had a tough life recently. His baby was strangled by its umbilical cord in the womb, his wife is having an affair with his boss, and his father has just died. This is pretty heavy for the first few chapters of a comedic book, but this sets up for the premise of the story.

Judd has not only been battered by life, but also kicked in the balls. His marriage has fallen apart and his father has died. To make this worse, his father’s dying wish is to have his kids sit shiva after his funeral. This involves Judd, his brother Paul and his wife Alice, his brother Phillip and his cougar girlfriend Tracy, his sister Wendy and her husband Barry, and his mother to sit together in what is essentially a 7-day wake, where they are the subjects of mourning in the suburban house where they were raised.

Of course, the situation is made light of. When one of the siblings asks about their mother, one responds: “She’s Mom, you know? She wanted to know how much to tip the coroner.”

This holds for some interesting and often hilarious exchanges between these darkly entertaining family members. Wendy, the mother of three boys, struggles with her husband who is always there, but always absent at the same time. Paul, who still holds a grudge against Judd from when they were teens, must also deal with his sex-crazed wife who is intent on having a baby. Phillip is the free-spirited, impulsive nomad player of the bunch. He can have any woman he wants and has had many of them. However, he comes home with a significantly older woman who he sees as a fresh start. Judd’s mother is a celebrity therapist who specializes in children, which already means that she is crazy and has most likely made her children the same way.

Then there is Judd. He is heartbroken, grieving, and dead inside.  This is where Jonathan Tropper gets his laughs. The dry humor is enough to carry the book, but the relationships between the characters are something else. There were times that I actually laughed out loud while reading, but there is more to the book than that. It tells the story of starting over, about being an adult, about being a man, and facing the future. It targets an underlying fear we all have as our lives progress. The idea of starting over is a terrifying one, but Tropper disguises it in this family crisis to make for an entertaining read.

The book is being adapted into a film that will star Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Connie Britton, Corey Stoll, among other A-listers. This is a film I’m cautiously excited for. I have pictured the characters in this book so vividly that I don’t want to risk ruining it, but after reading the cast list, I can see every one of those actors in their respective roles.

It’s as sweet, as it is funny, and as terrifying, as it is deep. The characters are so familiar. They are people you’ve met, people you’re close to, maybe they represent you. It doesn’t matter. This is a book for people battered by life about people battered by life. It allows for a catharsis. For us to face our problems, and for people my age, to accept that they’re coming. Tropper had written something so funny and entertaining that we forget how profound it can be too. This is not one for the kids, one of my favorite lines is: “you need a GPS to follow the sex lives of this family” and that is the best way to describe most of the story lines of this book, but give it go. There is not much more I can say than READ THIS BOOK!

Bottom Line: Think of this book as the literary version of Arrested Development (interestingly Arrested star Jason Bateman will star in the film adaptation). With its dry humor, outlandish characters, and hilarious situations, it will make for some entertaining reading. However, in the end it’s a book about family and how we make each other better and worse. Tropper has tapped into the psyche of someone who is still growing up, even in their thirties. Like I said, all I can say is READ THIS BOOK!