I was first introduced to Jonathon Tropper’s work through the book club I’m a part of. We read Everything Changes, and it was a real hit amongst our group. I found his latest novel, Tropper’s latest novel, This is Where I Leave You, just as pleasing. Life changing? No. Satisfying? Absolutely. His novels typically center around dysfunctional families. And while these families tend to have huge issues, I think they pretty much resemble the frustrations and breakdowns each family endures, just magnified times two hundred. Or more.
One of my favorite things about Jonathon Tropper’s writing is that he makes it so easy to picture the characters he creates. While reading Everything Changes, it was like watching a movie—I just knew Ben and Jerry Stiller were the father and son. No question about it. Same thing with This is Where I Leave You—Jessica Walters, Joan Cusack, and Owen Wilson all play prominent parts. As a matter of fact, Tropper is currently developing the novel into a motion picture, and I will be shocked if I don’t have at least one of those right—that’s how vivid his writing is.
This is Where I Leave You follows the Foxman family as they sit shiva after the death of the head of the household, Mort Foxman. This requires Judd, the main character, to stay in the same house as his child-psychologist mother, three estranged siblings, and their spouses for a full week. Add to this that he is in the middle of divorcing his wife, who was having an affair with his boss, and you can see how the plot may thicken. The resentments and miscommunications between these siblings are epic, with most of their familial problems stemming from adolescent injuries and disappointments. The great thing is, although most of us don’t have quite as much drama in our lives, Tropper is able to bring this family to life in a way where you’re going, “Yeah! That’s EXACTLY how it is!” (even if it really isn’t.) There may not be fist fights, strange sex acts, and pot-smoking at temple in most families, but the snarky comments, hurt feelings, and sibling bullying that abound in this novel certainly had a ring of truth about them.
Another favorite topic of Tropper’s is the vulnerability of being in love, and how marriage can change a person and a relationship in so many ways. The common threads of marriage—the daily ins and outs—are captured perfectly, even as Judd and Jen try to go their separate ways. Saying things simply to hurt one another without considering whether or not you mean them… getting annoyed by things as ridiculous as clothes in the wrong hamper… fixating on how things were versus how they are… Tropper puts into words the intricate negotiations, compromises, and tested loyalties that all relationships experience.
Without giving anything away, the thing I really enjoyed about this novel is that Tropper is insistent ‘til the end that things don’t get much easier. There is no happily-ever-after perfect ending. Instead, there’s just life, with all of its complications and heartache. Old wounds may heal, but there are still scars; a week can bring a family closer, but it won’t change who that family is. Judd admits in the beginning that his family is callous and handles emotional issues poorly: “There is no occasion calling for sincerity that the Foxman family won’t quickly diminish or pervert through our own genetically engineered brand of irony and evasion. We banter, quip, and insult our way through the birthdays, holidays, weddings, illnesses. Now Dad is dead and Wendy is cracking wise. It serves him right, since he was something of a pioneer at the forefront of emotional repression” (1). By the end, Judd’s family has not changed. They may be a bit more open with each other, they may have faced some issues that a week spent together forced out in to the open… but it is easy to see that, once they go their separate ways, their old defense mechanisms and sibling issues will resurface, although perhaps a bit less so than before. Rather than finding this disheartening, I was comforted. We’re all human, all have our hang-ups, and are inevitably going to be who we already are. The good news? Our family will stick by us through it all and we’ll all find someone to accept us as we are. And if nothing else, our family issues will always make for a good story.
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