This Is Where I Leave You

　　International bestseller Jonathan Tropper joins Dutton with the book his fans in the trade have been waiting for him to write: an uproarious, sophisticated, and deeply moving breakout novel.

　　Those who have already discovered Jonathan Tropper have called his novels "hilarious, but emotion-packed,"1 "fantastically funny,"2 "surprisingly moving,"3 and "utterly magnificent."4 With his Dutton debut, Tropper has delivered a novel of true sophistication, at once light of touch and with a real sense of humor, without sacrificing a depth of character and raw emotion reminiscent of the early work of John Irving and Michael Chabon.

　　This Is Where I Leave You opens with the death of Judd Foxman's father, an event that marks the first time in a decade that the entire Foxman family-including Judd's mother, brothers, and sister-have been together in the same house for an extended period. Conspicuously absent: Judd's wife, Jen, whose fourteen-month affair with Judd's radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.

　　The typical Foxman family gathering ends with car doors slamming and tires screeching as various factions scatter to nurse their resentments in private. But this time around, the Foxmans reluctantly submit to their father's dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a real family. For Judd it's a week-long opportunity to come to terms with his father's death, his failed marriage, and to explain the mess his life has become to a never-ending parade of people he thought he might never see again. Which would be bad enough without the bomb Jen dropped the day Judd's father died: She's pregnant.