(92) This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

Are you in need of a good laugh? Not just a chuckle, but a laugh so big and so hard that your sides ache when you are done? Then waste no time getting your hands on This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper.

This Is Where I Leave You is a book about Judd Foxman & his family. Not only has Judd recently discovered that his wife has been screwing a radio shock jock, the guy happens to be his boss. His father just passed away from a long battle with cancer. He has requested that his family sit Shiva. Judd is just a little shocked by the request and with this line, I knew I was going to love this book.

Dad didn't believe in God, but he was a lifelong member of the church of Shit Or Get Off The Can.

Judd does honor his father's wishes and he finds himself in his childhood home with his sister, two brothers and their various significant others. In the seven days following their father's burial, the Foxman children find themselves trapped in the house dealing with the current issues in their lives as well as reminiscing about their childhood and the father they just lost.

From Wendy's recounting of the day she first got her period to the boys setting off the sprinklers while smoking a joint in the Temple bathroom I laughed & laughed. But it was the part with the poorly placed baby monitor & Uncle Stan's flatulence problem that had me laughing so hard the pets were looking at me funny. Holy Crap (pun intended) it was hysterical.

I have read Jonathan Tropper before, but this is his best book by far. In fact, this may be the best Fiction book of the year. Judd Foxman and his siblings are like any other family out there. They have their inside jokes, they have their go-to insults. They have their major dysfunctions. But most of all, right now, they share the pain of missing their father. For every brilliantly written Foxman mishap, there is the kick in the gut they feel when they remember their Father has died. Hysterical. Poignant. Engaging. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

The perfect book to take with you in the car as you are traveling to wherever your family may be this Thanksgiving holiday. Either you will relate with the Foxmans or you will Thank God there is a family out there worse than yours. Bottom line is you will enjoy it and thank me for it later.