"Dad lives on in all of us. Our parents can continue to screw us up even after they die, and in this way, they're never really gone."

Filled with humor and insight but also drama and family dysfunction, this is an interesting look into one family. Siblings, four of them, are coming home to honor the final will of their father - to sit for seven days and have people visit and mourn with them, to sit and mourn their father and be together.

I loved the drama and the humor. I loved the dynamics the family had, to finish each other's sentences. I loved the silly neighbors that arrived and how Judd (MC) gave his perspective of who the neighbor was when he was young and who they were now. I even loved all their childhood friends showing up and them trying to pick through their emotions and lives as it crumbled around them.
It's a very good story. I'll definitely read more from this author. ( )

This author is skilled with words, and he has a good sense of comedic timing. If he'd wanted to, he might have written a volume of dry humor that could rival Douglas Adams.

But he was trying for something very different.

This is a very well-written book, for what it is, but I really didn't care for it. I found the content to be too over-the-top for dry humor, and too uncomfortable for pleasure reading. I know that this is more a matter of personal likes and dislikes, and certainly there will be people out there who won't be troubled by the content and can just hang on and enjoy the ride. But I didn't like the characters, who were all incredibly promiscuous and just assumed that everyone was the same. I didn't care for the characters who would commit adultery and borderline-incest (with graphic descriptions), objectify sexy females as though they were a piece of meat to be devoured, and be dismissive of their families and even their own children. It just left me cold. It is not unlike the raucous sort of fabliau that Chaucer used, and I'm sure it's intentional, but it is not the kind of story that I could lose myself in. It was an uncomfortable world to visit.

Yes, the family is messed up, and yes, they are very much aware of their shortcomings. To its credit, the book handles the characterizations well: the main characters are introspective and show legitimate development. They change and grow. They are also interesting people, with strengths and weaknesses. No cliches, no boring flat characters--the author is very intelligent and has obviously put a lot of thought into fleshing out the story. This book also avoids the trap of having one self-righteous character judge the others. This family is trying to figure things out together, and that's a nice dynamic. But I still found it to be disturbing. It makes me wonder if people are really that cold and selfish in real life.

PS, All of the sex in the story is described, vividly, from the male's point of view. Maybe this was meant more for guys to read? ( )

This Is Where I Leave You is one of the funniest books I have ever read. After the death of his father, Judd Foxman returns home to sit shiva with his family. He and his three siblings have not spent any significant amount of time together in years, and the seven days that follow their father's funeral are filled with comedy and tragedy, heartbreak and hilarity. Judd's marriage to his college sweetheart is in shambles after he discovers she's been cheating on him with his slimy boss. And each of Judd's siblings is similarly wrapped up in their own personal life disasters. To be back in their childhood home again, and their small hometown, with all of its memories and trappings and possibilities, offers the Foxmans a break from reality and a chance to contemplate the condition and direction of their lives.

Jonathan Tropper is a talented writer, skillfully toeing the line between poignant and hilarious. His use of metaphors and similes seems to be his signature style, and while the novel is littered with them, they are most often spot-on. The were times when I laughed out loud so hard that it brought tears to my eyes, and others when I felt Judd's pain and frustration acutely. I did feel there was a gratuitous amount of sex and language in the book. I did not find it particularly offensive, but rather unnecessary; the plot was funny and real enough, and I don't think the use of graphic sex and language added anything. It did make the book seem a bit more cutting edge, and perhaps that was Tropper's intent. It is no surprise that This Is Where I Leave You is being adapted for screenplay, I only hope the writers are able to find a way to convey the voice of Judd with all its wit and humor and insight.

I loved This Is Where I Leave You, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys good contemporary fiction. One note, however: I actually listened to the audio version (from audible.com), and the narration was awful. It was flat and tinny, and I consider the fact that I am rating this book 5 stars despite such an awful listening experience to be a tremendous testiment to the book itself. Kudos to Tropper! ( )

Mostly enjoyable read about a family coming together to sit shiva after the death of their father.

I enjoyed the book very much as an escape from my life and as a way to pass the time but I think the level of wacky hijinks push it into the realm of silly more than a serious exploration of the family relationships and resentments that face the Foxman clan.

I'll be sure to catch the movie when it comes to cable. ( )

Well, I usually save reading reviews until after I've read the book, but I broke my rule on this book and read some reviews first. Most of them were negative, so I entered the story with great skepticism. I was surprisingly delighted by a story filled with honestly depicted truths about family, love, death, disappointment, losing and finding the way, and redemption. (And, as an afterthought, I must admit the ending was a little hokey. But that doesn't take away from the rest of the book.) ( )