The Book of Joe

Rating:
Summary: "If we wouldn't look down, we'd make it to the other side"
Review: Anyone who has ever lived in a small town, and left it for the big city is really going to appreciate this wonderfully sly, clever and whimsical novel by Jonathan Tropper, where memory is never beholden to chronology. With its duel narrative, switching from the present to the mid nineteen eighties, The Book of Joe tells the story of Joe Goffman, who returns to his hometown of Bush Falls in Connecticut after he learns that his estranged father is in a coma. A scathing and contemptuous novel Joe once wrote afflicts and sours his homecoming; but to make matters worse, the novel has been made into a hit movie, which damns the small mindedness and bigotry of the town. Now thirty four, and living an "empty" life in New York, Joe returns to face the demons of the past and to face his friends and family with whom he hasn't had much to do with for seventeen years.

Joe returns to a town that is solidly immersed in recession, with for sale signs on the front lawns, and a sense of desperation in the "quotidian tidiness." And to many of the residents, Joe has done unknowable and irreparable damage to their town, and to their reputations. The local book club throws copies of his book onto his lawn, a customer at the local cafe hurls a milkshake over him, and his childhood sweetheart Carly - with who he is still in love - is angry and resentful at his thoughtlessness in writing the book. Joe faces an uphill battle to reconnect with his brother Brad, and Brad's wife Cindy, but he succeeds forming an adolescent bond with his nephew Jared, and his old friend Wayne, who has returned to Bush Falls from Los Angeles, and who is now suffering from AIDS. Joe has spent so much time re-living and rewriting those years that he can no longer discern "which vignettes are the result of which process." But through his daffy, intuitive literary agent Owen, Joe comes to terms with the fact that he has a compulsive need right past wrongs.

As the scattered fragments of Joes past "pop up like Starbucks franchises," he revisits the dreadful dealings of his senior year in nineteen eighty-six, where he discovers sex with Carly, and the fact that, Wayne and Sammy, his two best friends are gay. Joe loved to hang out with Wayne and Sammy, singing the lyrics to the music of Bruce Springsteen, smoking lots of dope, and salivating after Lucy Harber, Sammy's curvaceous and attractive mother. But Joe gradually finds himself becoming embroiled in the sexual politics of the town, as he tries desperately to keep Wayne and Sammy's affair a secret from the small-minded community. Seventeen years later, Joe wants to forgive Bush Falls and particularly his father, but somewhere he blinks and all those years has flown by in an "uneven forgiveness," which has "become septic, like an infection festering inside him." Joe has shed all those who cared about him "like a snakeskin."

Joe thinks he's exorcised the demons by writing the book, but on returning to Bush Falls, he realizes that he's only appeased them temporarily. And he wonders how unwittingly he's drifted from the boy he used to be and how little he has to show for it. The last seventeen years seem to have been reduced to this tiny area on the map of his life, "just a little yellow shade on the legend to mark my time away from the falls." Tropper's message is that holding onto anger, in whatever form, is a waste of time, in fact, it's a waste of life. Immensely readable, thoroughly enjoyable, and with a nicely controlled narrative, The Book of Joe never falls into urban cliché or fake sentiment. Although some readers might find the ending a little predictable and contrived - there is the expected death, and also the expected romantic redemption for Joe, the story still remains one of the most entertaining the year. Immensely filmable and beautifully told, it comes as no surprise that the movie rights for this fine novel have been optioned. Mike Leonard May 04.

Rating:
Summary: A quick read that keeps you captivated
Review: As a working mom, I don't have a lot of time to read. When my mother passed this book as said it was a must read I found time! I could not put it down. As a fast reader, I finished it over the weekend. I really enjoyed the story. It was "off the beaten path" of my typical reads, which was even better. It was recommended to my mother from Joe at Chester County Book Company in the Philadelphia area, who never missed on a recommendation. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: First of all, I LOVED Plan B by Mr. Tropper. So, I excitedly forced my book club to read and review Book of Joe. I was surprised at the similarity between Mr. Tropper's two books. (ensemble cast, family disputes, nostolgic circle of friends, trying to reconnect to the past, etc.) But that didn't really bother us, since every good writer has a "formula." Most of us, however, felt the novel was too shallow. The kissing teenager has braces, the local cop is a former sports hero whose father was the town sheriff, the gay guy gets aids, etc. In other words, very very predictable. But the real problem is that Mr. Tropper spends 9/10ths of the book carefully creating this hatred and tension between Joe and everyone else, and then, suddenly, and magically, in the last 5 pages, his brother, the Coach, and his girlfriend, all forgive him and have a hallmark moment. It's like Mr. Tropper ran out of ideas, or was reaching his word-limit and just decided to have a hollywood ending. Mr. Tropper writes beautifully and poetically. It is a shame he has already sold out after only one book.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Entertaining
Review: I don't care if others critiqued it as predictable - I really liked everything about this book. All the characters were interesting and I really cared what happened to them and what they'd do next. Ok, I admit it. I wrote a little poem about this book: "Wayne's gonna die and I'm gonna cry on that sad and dismal day. Wayne's gonna die and I'm gonna cry, and there's nothing more to say!" How many books have you read that inspired a little poem (good poem or not)? Read this book, I don't think you'll be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Pack-Up Your Adjectives
Review: I guess sometimes this is what we have to show for allowing poppy little english grammar ditties to be so catchy. I can see Mr. Tropper as the kind of writer motivated by two things: Schoolhouse Rock and vocab-building page-a-day calendars. The writing here was laughable at times, overly flowing and several syllables longer than needed. The vocabulary used was over the top for what was required, and all the more jarring in that the author tends to use (or wants to use) a seemingly accessible, pop-culture-riddled, casualness to the story-telling. The story itself is ok, though nothing exceptional here. For a better, albeit surreal, look at the "voyage-to-the-hometown-of-renowned-author" genre, try Jonathan Carroll's *The Land of Laughs*.

Rating:
Summary: excellent read!
Review: I have recommended this book to several people--it is one of the most accomplished novels I've read in the past few years. Jonathan Tropper perfectly blends nostalgia, family drama (and trouble), frustration and longing with a wonderful, deadpan sense of humor. I laughed out loud and actually teared up at the end (there is one scene at the end of the book that is incredibly poignant and touching). I am definitely going to buy other books by this talented author.

Rating:
Summary: Preach JT, Preach!
Review: I made the mistake of starting this book. I wasn't able to put it down and finished it in a day. I must admit I was kind of confused and actually thought it might have been based on his life. Some stories are so good, with so much truth that it is hard to believe they are fiction. Tropper makes things understandable -- like in knowing when it's love -- it never stops hurting and the scars never heal -- the whole book really came to life for me and spoke to me. I had my Wayne and I had my Carly -- and sometimes wonder if I too am an arse like Joe. I'm glad the book wasn't 1,000 pages case I would have stayed on the couch for 3 days in a row to finish it -- and was sad when I finished it -- even if I thought the ending was a bit weak (4 1/2 stars).

Can't wait for his next book, Everything Changes due out in March, 2005. Off I go to buy Plan B.

Rating:
Summary: A Tale of Redemption
Review: Joe Goffman is the best-selling author whose first book trashed his home-town and its residents. Brad is his estranged brother. Carly is the only woman he's ever loved, but without being able to make a commitment. Wayne and Sammy were his best buddies in high school. Lucy was Wayne's attractive mother and object of Joe's adolescent lust. Joe hasn't been home for seventeen years, until his father is felled by a massive stroke. It is not a happy home-coming.

Joe returns to Bush Falls to find out that he is hated. Copies of his book are thrown on his front lawn. Strangers pour milk-shakes on him in restaurants--well, you get the picture. Carly still lives there but is not overly thrilled to see him. And Joe is overwhelmed by unresolved issues from his past. In the course of this delightful novel, everyone will have a chance to re-examine their issues and conflicts, and hopefully to move on.

So, does Joe come to grips with his past failings? Does he reconcile with his brother? Does he get back together with Carly and live happily ever after? You will have to read the book to find out. This is an extremely well-written book that will have you turning the pages. Author Jonathan Tropper is a skilled writer who maintains control of his material and avoids the pitfall of sentimentality. Yes, it's true that some of the themes and characters are formulaic, some of the ideas have been used before, but hey--it works! In the end, this is a tale of sin, grace and redemption which will leave you profoundly moved.

The Book of Joe is an entertaining read and I highly recommend it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

Rating:
Summary: Can you go home again?
Review: Lately, the only books I write about are those that really beg me to write about them. Jonathan Tropper's The Book of Joe is one of those books.

It's a safe bet that most of us use our past to fuel our present. Whether dreaming about the glory days or subconsciously trying to atone for things we've done wrong, we somehow define ourselves by who we were as much as who we are. Joe Goffman is a poster child for that definition.

Joe, who has written a wildly successful work of fiction that pretty well trashed everybody in his small home town, is coerced into returning when his father, his only surviving parent, has a stroke. From Joe's less-than-warm reception through the rest of this engaging story, the events of the past provide a context for the searching, self-immolation and eventual re-discovery that comes from seeing if it's really possible to go home again, or if home belongs in the past, and is best left there.

More than a little wry humor wraps Joe's recollections of hormone-filled high school days with the patina of cynicism that intervening years supply. That coating helps to keep the book from descending into the dark, regretful tone that could have marred its enjoyability. You'll laugh; you'll cry (I did).

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, not bad at all...
Review: Plan B was a great book. This effort is more ambitious, but not quite (in my opinion)as good. Some of it cliche, some of it is not needed (really Tallon? Come on...what a goofy character). On the other hand, Tropper is still very good at conveying emotions and capturing the pain of youth and finally growing up. One other issue, why don't we learn more about what has happened to Carly? She is still very underdeveloped. OVerall, Tropper avoids the sophomore slump, but I think he tries to do too much...