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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
4.5 stars I can't believe how much I liked this book (I cried near the end).
If you liked the show Californiacation, this is a great book for you.
Initially, I wasn't sure I'd stick with this book. The protagonist/narrator is a 40-something male and he brings you into his thoughts. Until this book, it hadn't occurred to me that most books I read have female narrators or are mainly about females or even if they are about men/have male narrators you're not quiet into their thoughts.
Either I acclimated, or the "nice ass" thoughts fell away after a few chapters. I was totally immersed in this book and liked all of the characters. It reminded me of [b:We're All Damaged|28959148|We're All Damaged|Matthew Norman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1457221465s/28959148.jpg|49185839] and [b:Domestic Violets|10790819|Domestic Violets|Matthew Norman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1306344559s/10790819.jpg|15703115] -- a contemporary 'drama' that mostly follows a family (with all their humanness and flaws) through a 1-2 week period.
If you liked the show Californiacation, this is a great book for you.
Initially, I wasn't sure I'd stick with this book. The protagonist/narrator is a 40-something male and he brings you into his thoughts. Until this book, it hadn't occurred to me that most books I read have female narrators or are mainly about females or even if they are about men/have male narrators you're not quiet into their thoughts.
Either I acclimated, or the "nice ass" thoughts fell away after a few chapters. I was totally immersed in this book and liked all of the characters. It reminded me of [b:We're All Damaged|28959148|We're All Damaged|Matthew Norman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1457221465s/28959148.jpg|49185839] and [b:Domestic Violets|10790819|Domestic Violets|Matthew Norman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1306344559s/10790819.jpg|15703115] -- a contemporary 'drama' that mostly follows a family (with all their humanness and flaws) through a 1-2 week period.
Really terrific. I thought I have read books like this before, and I have: but this one is really special. Worth your time.
I'm teetering on a 3.75 for this one.
Tropper's latest novel introduces us to Dean Silver, ex-drummer for Bent Daisies, whose one hit "Rest in Pieces" gave Silver just enough fame to make his natural assholishness that much more spectacular. We meet him two weeks before his ex-wife is about to remarry, and shortly before he learns that he has a fatal condition that can be reversed through surgery. But why bother, when his life has become one giant clusterfuck?
I enjoy Tropper's writing. Often, it makes me laugh out loud. His protagonists have such malfunctioning normal meters that their actions (or, more often, their dialogue both inner and outer) balance precariously on the edge of realistic and bat-shit crazy.
I found the beginning of this book slow going. It wasn't until about halfway through that I got into its rhythm (and Silver was a drummer... see what I did just there?). Once I did, it was funny, and touching, and enjoyable. And the ending? Quite possibly one of my all-time favorites.
Tropper's latest novel introduces us to Dean Silver, ex-drummer for Bent Daisies, whose one hit "Rest in Pieces" gave Silver just enough fame to make his natural assholishness that much more spectacular. We meet him two weeks before his ex-wife is about to remarry, and shortly before he learns that he has a fatal condition that can be reversed through surgery. But why bother, when his life has become one giant clusterfuck?
I enjoy Tropper's writing. Often, it makes me laugh out loud. His protagonists have such malfunctioning normal meters that their actions (or, more often, their dialogue both inner and outer) balance precariously on the edge of realistic and bat-shit crazy.
I found the beginning of this book slow going. It wasn't until about halfway through that I got into its rhythm (and Silver was a drummer... see what I did just there?). Once I did, it was funny, and touching, and enjoyable. And the ending? Quite possibly one of my all-time favorites.
Jonathan Tropper is a great writer – one of my all-time favorites – but this is not his best work. The plot line about a one-hit musical wonder past his prime who needs surgery but refuses to have it because of familial angst was not plausible and did not excite me, nor did the subplot of having a pregnant teenage daughter. Tropper usually does well with stories of family dysfunction (please read This Is Where I Leave You!) but this novel does not rise to the level of humor, wit and insight I’m used to from him.
Vlot geschreven, leest lekker weg. Niet zoveel hardop lachenmomenten als zijn andere boeken, maar toch grappig. Personages zijn mooi uitgewerkt en geloofwaardig.
Just finished this book now. About 40 pages ago, I was torn - I wanted to know what happens to the characters, but I didn't want the book to end.
I love this book. The characters are well-developed, and I enjoy the writing style of the author. Cast well, it would make a great movie. The combination of mortality, relationships, and introspection packaged in a has-been musician worked well for me.
I love this book. The characters are well-developed, and I enjoy the writing style of the author. Cast well, it would make a great movie. The combination of mortality, relationships, and introspection packaged in a has-been musician worked well for me.
This may have been my favorite of Tropper's books yet. Once again, the characters were fully developed and flawed, but Tropper's writing makes you feel for each individual, even if you don't always agree with their choices/behavior. I read this in one sitting on a flight from NY to LA and was sad when it ended.
I wanted to love it so much because of This Is Where I Leave You and Plan B, but Tropper just didn't wow me like he had previously. I actually had a huge problem with how everyone called the main character by his last name...including his father, his ex-wife, his brother, and his daughter. I forgot his first name until Tropper brought it back for a joke 3/4 of the way through the book. Yeah, just generally not Tropper's best.
The topic of divorce and ex-spouses is a touchy one, so I was happily pleased with this book about a real slacker (Silver) coming to terms (finally) with his divorce and the fact that his ex-wife (Denise) and daughter (Casey) have moved on with their lives. The Silver character lives in a run-down, depressing apartment complex filled with other divorced men, so we get various scenarios of what can happen to men once their marriages end--mostly sympathetic, here, toward the men while fully addressing the fact that most of them were boobs who brought their situations on themselves. I laughed quite a bit at the idiocy of Silver, but still managed to root for him to figure things out. The supporting characters were realistic (men don't always write women well, but Tropper did a pretty good job), and the ending was very appropriate to the tone of the story. In other words, not schmaltzy!
Problem is I never reached the point I cared about this guy, ever. Now I did care somewhat about the people in his family. Perhaps that was the device Tropper was using? Who knows, I just know I wont be revisiting this book.