This is Where I Leave You

Narrator Ramon de Ocampo gives a subtly nuanced rendering of Jonathan Tropper's family story involving a distressed and insecure man whose father has just died and whose wife is sleeping with his insufferable boss. Judd Foxman, portrayed in the novel with excruciatingly honest self-flagellation, is something of a comedian, his audience being his family and friends. De Ocampo reveals the various characters involved in the family shiva with a degree of variation in tone and voice that doesn't call attention to itself while delineating identity and gender. Listeners will enjoy the first half of the book for its wit and the second half for its insight, although the obsession with sexual innuendo may wear thin. J.L. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

May 18, 2009
Tropper returns with a snappy and heartfelt family drama/belated coming-of-age story. Judd Foxman’s wife, Jen, has left him for his boss, a Howard Stern–like radio personality, but it is the death of his father and the week of sitting shivah with his enjoyably dysfunctional family that motivates him. Jen’s announcement of her pregnancy—doubly tragic because of a previous miscarriage—is followed by the dramas of Judd’s siblings: his sister, Wendy, is stuck in an emotionless marriage; brother Paul—always Judd’s defender—and his wife struggle with infertility; and the charming youngest, Phillip, attempts a grown-up relationship that only highlights his rakishness. Presided over by their mother, a celebrated parenting expert despite her children’s difficulties, the mourning period brings each of the family members to unexpected epiphanies about their own lives and each other. The family’s interactions are sharp, raw and often laugh-out-loud funny, and Judd’s narration is unflinching, occasionally lewd and very keen. 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.