This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
In Anna Karenina Tolstoy says, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Let me explain why he's wrong.
This Is Where I Leave You is a really funny novel about a profoundly unhappy family. We first meet Judd as he finds out his father has died. It's really just the cherry on the cake his life has recently become: he's recently jobless, homeless, and wifeless, all after walking in on his wife having sex with his boss in his bed. Now he has to go sit shiva with his family, who he doesn't get along with. His mom is a child psychiatrist guru who mined their childhoods for fodder for her "What To Expect When You're Expecting" style parenting books. His older brother Paul resents him for ruining his college career when a Rottweiler attacked them. Paul's been running the family sporting goods store since their dad's been sick and trying to conceive with his wife. His older sister Wendy has three kids who are running her ragged and a husband more concerned with his career than helping her out. His younger brother Phillip is the family screw-up currently dating his almost 20-years older therapist. Dysfunction, thy name is Foxman.
So, yeah, these guys are unique in their misery, but I still found them absolutely hilarious. They are funny not because they are so incredibly outside my realm of experience but because they are so recognizable. You may be the screw-up or be related to the screw-up, but chances are, even if you aren't, you know someone who's a screw-up. You know every one of these people. You are exactly like these people and your misery is exactly like theirs.
Suck it, Leo.
This Is Where I Leave You is a really funny novel about a profoundly unhappy family. We first meet Judd as he finds out his father has died. It's really just the cherry on the cake his life has recently become: he's recently jobless, homeless, and wifeless, all after walking in on his wife having sex with his boss in his bed. Now he has to go sit shiva with his family, who he doesn't get along with. His mom is a child psychiatrist guru who mined their childhoods for fodder for her "What To Expect When You're Expecting" style parenting books. His older brother Paul resents him for ruining his college career when a Rottweiler attacked them. Paul's been running the family sporting goods store since their dad's been sick and trying to conceive with his wife. His older sister Wendy has three kids who are running her ragged and a husband more concerned with his career than helping her out. His younger brother Phillip is the family screw-up currently dating his almost 20-years older therapist. Dysfunction, thy name is Foxman.
So, yeah, these guys are unique in their misery, but I still found them absolutely hilarious. They are funny not because they are so incredibly outside my realm of experience but because they are so recognizable. You may be the screw-up or be related to the screw-up, but chances are, even if you aren't, you know someone who's a screw-up. You know every one of these people. You are exactly like these people and your misery is exactly like theirs.
Suck it, Leo.
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