Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I can’t decide if Silver’s life is more comic or tragic. He’s honestly a bit of a disaster. At just 44, and probably dying, he isn’t quite suicidal, but not exactly rushing to save himself. Dysfunctional family drama might be exactly what he needs. Sometimes life just doesn’t turn out how you imagined.
God, I love Little Free Libraries! I found this book in my neighborhood's LFL and am so glad I did. Humorous, sweet, wicked, and I just couldn't put it down.
I love Jonathan Tropper. This book might have been my favorite of his to be honest... I love that it wasn't too over the top, like some of his other books (even if I loved all of them). I love the ending. I love the relationships. Just a great, great book. I just wish Tropper wrote books more frequently so I don't have to wait a few years until his next one (although, I guess then they wouldn't be as good....alas...)
Jonathan Tropper's new novel, One Last Thing Before I Go, is like that sad, too-self-deprecating friend everyone has, who, despite the fact that he depresses you to no end, you still hang out with him because he's entertaining as hell. It's a bit of a departure from Tropper's first five novels — which are usually crackling with one-liners and populated by dudes getting wantonly laid without trying too hard.
Indeed, One Last Thing Before I Go is Tropper's most melancholic novel. While still often funny and with much of Tropper's signature dude-humor, its main goal really seems to be to explore how badly beaten you have to be to decide you'd rather not live anymore. That's the decision our protagonist, 44-year-old Silver, makes. Silver, a former drummer in a one-hit-wonder rock band called The Bent Daisies, has been divorced for seven years, and his ex-wife is about to marry a rich, handsome doctor. Also, his 18-year-old daughter Casey is pregnant, and only decides to tell Silver because she's not-at-all worried about letting him down.
So when Silver winds up in the hospital with a rare heart condition — which a simple surgery will solve — Silver declines to be operated on, deciding instead to put his affairs in order as best he can, and wait for death's call.
But something odd happens on the way to the grave. "Silver doesn't really know how to explain it. It's like he's been inexpertly rewired. Signals are being mixed, relays being tripped, power surging and waning, and he's acting on impulses before he knows he has them."
When you've got nothing to lose, you live your life like losing doesn't matter. And so the rest of the novel follows Silver around as he speaks his mind (sometimes when he doesn't even realize he's talking out loud) and tries to make amends to his wounded family. Will he be able to rescue himself from his family's ire? Will he screw things up worse than they already are? Will he finally decide to have the surgery that'll save his life?
Tropper's one of my favorite writers — he's always fun to read because he says things in ways that make you wish you'd had his sentences in your arsenal of witty repartee when goofing off with your buddies at the bar. (Example: "The doctor who tells him he is going to die is the same man who will be marrying his ex-wife in two and a half weeks, which is either poetically just, or at least the sort of karmic fart that is emblematic of his life these days.)
But One Last Thing Before I Go strays into the cliché a few too many times to elevate it into the top tier of Tropper novels. There's actually a scene where Silver grabs a microphone at a Bat Mitzvah and professes his apologies and love for his daughter in front of all the guests. You could almost feel a John Hughes "slow-clap" coming on. And all the divorced dudes live in a converted hotel called The Versailles, which is reminiscent of "Casa Nova: A Transitional Place for Singles" from The Simpsons. There's others, too, which I can't tell you about without spoiling.
Still, only-okay Tropper is great reading
Indeed, One Last Thing Before I Go is Tropper's most melancholic novel. While still often funny and with much of Tropper's signature dude-humor, its main goal really seems to be to explore how badly beaten you have to be to decide you'd rather not live anymore. That's the decision our protagonist, 44-year-old Silver, makes. Silver, a former drummer in a one-hit-wonder rock band called The Bent Daisies, has been divorced for seven years, and his ex-wife is about to marry a rich, handsome doctor. Also, his 18-year-old daughter Casey is pregnant, and only decides to tell Silver because she's not-at-all worried about letting him down.
So when Silver winds up in the hospital with a rare heart condition — which a simple surgery will solve — Silver declines to be operated on, deciding instead to put his affairs in order as best he can, and wait for death's call.
But something odd happens on the way to the grave. "Silver doesn't really know how to explain it. It's like he's been inexpertly rewired. Signals are being mixed, relays being tripped, power surging and waning, and he's acting on impulses before he knows he has them."
When you've got nothing to lose, you live your life like losing doesn't matter. And so the rest of the novel follows Silver around as he speaks his mind (sometimes when he doesn't even realize he's talking out loud) and tries to make amends to his wounded family. Will he be able to rescue himself from his family's ire? Will he screw things up worse than they already are? Will he finally decide to have the surgery that'll save his life?
Tropper's one of my favorite writers — he's always fun to read because he says things in ways that make you wish you'd had his sentences in your arsenal of witty repartee when goofing off with your buddies at the bar. (Example: "The doctor who tells him he is going to die is the same man who will be marrying his ex-wife in two and a half weeks, which is either poetically just, or at least the sort of karmic fart that is emblematic of his life these days.)
But One Last Thing Before I Go strays into the cliché a few too many times to elevate it into the top tier of Tropper novels. There's actually a scene where Silver grabs a microphone at a Bat Mitzvah and professes his apologies and love for his daughter in front of all the guests. You could almost feel a John Hughes "slow-clap" coming on. And all the divorced dudes live in a converted hotel called The Versailles, which is reminiscent of "Casa Nova: A Transitional Place for Singles" from The Simpsons. There's others, too, which I can't tell you about without spoiling.
Still, only-okay Tropper is great reading
Tropper's strength is writing dialogue that exposes the psyches of loser-ish characters who would otherwise be pretty unsympathetic. This isn't a masterpiece or a feel-good book, but it's a great study in dialogue, and compulsively readable for that reason.
3.5 stars from me. I really like Jonathan Tropper. He's always funny and accessible, but this one is kind of sweet and melancholy too.
I've been scanning the reviews of this book and it seems that those who first read "This is Where I Leave You" were disappointed by "One Last Thing Before I Go."
If that's the case, then I'm gonna absolutely LOVE "This is Where I Leave You" because I really enjoyed this book.
It's funny, the characters are well-drawn, and there are passages in which I found such meaning that I was highlighting entire paragraphs!
Probably the only character who seemed too wise to be true was Silver's daughter, Casey. But, still, she was entertaining, and I loved her banter with her father.
Plus, the bond between the three divorced men - Silver, Jack and Oliver - was really sweet.
I highly recommend this, and I look forward to reading more books by Jonathan Tropper.
If that's the case, then I'm gonna absolutely LOVE "This is Where I Leave You" because I really enjoyed this book.
It's funny, the characters are well-drawn, and there are passages in which I found such meaning that I was highlighting entire paragraphs!
Probably the only character who seemed too wise to be true was Silver's daughter, Casey. But, still, she was entertaining, and I loved her banter with her father.
Plus, the bond between the three divorced men - Silver, Jack and Oliver - was really sweet.
I highly recommend this, and I look forward to reading more books by Jonathan Tropper.
Not as funny as his last book (This is where I leave you) which was laugh out loud hilarious. This one has some interesting characters, but is ultimately a rumination on death and whether life is worth living. The main character is a down and out loser, finds out he is dying if he doesn't get an operation and spends the rest of the book discovering why life is worth living. It was a decent quick read. Get it form the library.
Didn't finish it. Didn't get it. Didn't like the main character. Didn't like the plot. Tone deaf to author's sense of humour.