This Is Where I Leave You

By: Jonathan Tropper

Narrated by: Ramón de Ocampo

The death of Judd Foxman's father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family - including Judd's mother, brothers, and sister - have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd's wife, Jen, whose 14-month affair with Judd's radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.

Simultaneously mourning the death of his father and the demise of his marriage, Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch's dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.

As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions reawakened. For Judd, it's a weeklong attempt to make sense of the mess his life has become while trying in vain not to get sucked into the regressive battles of his madly dysfunctional family.

©2009 Jonathan Tropper (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"The affectionate, warts-and-all portrayal of the Foxmans will have fans wishing for a sequel (and clamoring for all things Tropper)." (Amazon.com review)
"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." ( Publishers Weekly)

brilliant

lovely.
one of my favorite movies, and every time I show it to someone I tell them they have to read the book to fully understand.
greatly read.

Hmm...

Hard to relate to a character spineless enough to sleep with his sister-in-law. Great narration.

I thought my family had issues!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would recommend this book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of This Is Where I Leave You?

The most memorable moment of this book was when the brothers all had their moment at realizing the never stopped loving each other and that they were always brothers and even though they had individual anger, it wasn't like the anger was directed at the right person or for the right reason.

What does Ramon de Ocampo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I will always say that the emotion in the readers voice is the experience that I like. I have to admit when I read a book on my own I have to read the chapters twice the first time throught to just read it and then another time to try and put emotion to it.

If you could take any character from This Is Where I Leave You out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would actually take the mother out to dinner, she is the one who I feel I could have a good conversation with, she has raised her kids and they all have different personalities and came out different, she had been through 40 years of marriage, experienced life and experienced the loss of a loved one. She has been through so much that I have not been through and would love to sit and talk to her about.

Any additional comments?

I have not seen the movie for this book yet, but now I am ready to see it, this book made me laugh, made me feel sad and sorry for some characters, cheer for the characters at times, and relate to them. I am ready to see how they made this book come to life on the big screen.

Entertaining.

Judd walks in on his wife having sex with his boss and his father has died. This is his story of grief for both as well as for his life. Good narration, good story.

The objectification of women too much for me

I found the needlessly detailed description of women’s anatomy in this book distracting from the story. By the end, I had to fast forward through certain sections just because I didn’t want to hear about the female anatomy anymore. One of my least favorite reads as a result.