Some books seem so ripe for film adaptation that you have wonder if the author didn’t write them with a movie contract in mind. This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper is a case in point. Judd Foxman, recently separated from his wife and newly unemployed (his wife had an affair with his boss), returns home to mourn his father. The dramedy begins as Judd and his siblings wisecrack their way through a week of condolence calls while negotiating their own troubled relationships, revisiting lost loves, and trying to control their over-the-top psychologist mother. The dialogue is witty, the plot is brisk, and the characters are likeable. Perhaps what’s most surprising is that in between the fistfights and inappropriate sexual trysts, Tropper manages to convey something deeper about the nature of love and family.
Although the open-ended close of the novel may bother some readers, most will find it an extremely engaging read. And (you guessed it) it’s coming soon to a theater near you.
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