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: 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: 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: Somewhere between Perrotta and Chabon...
Review: The Book of Joe manages to be both hilarious and heartwarming at the same time. I picked it up because Plan B, Tropper's first novel, had been such a fun read, and was fankly surprised by how much I started caring about the characters. Joe Goffman returns to the town he trashed in his bestselling novel, and the reaction of the town, his family, old friends and his old girlfriend are what drive this compelling story. The book is being adapted for the screen by Warner Brothers, and if they can capture the essence of this book, I think, they'll have a major hit on their hands. Tropper writes with a clear and very funny voice, and then, all of a sudden, you come across a sentence so perfect, almost poetic, that you find yourself rereading the entire paragraph. His voice perfectly captures the irony and pathos of a thirty-something man trying to make sense out of lost loves and age old wounds. At times I laughed out loud, and at times I had tears in my eyes. If you like anyone from Nick Hornby to Michael Chabon to John Irving to Tom Perrotta, you will love The Book of Joe.

Rating:
Summary: A truckload of sarcasm and humor!
Review: When best selling author Joe Goffman returns to his hometown due to his father's stroke, he ends up getting much more than he expected. It seems that his book, a thinly veiled fictional account of his growing up in the town, had caused a bit of an uproar when it was released. Fortunately for Joe, he was still living in New York City, where his greatest worries were feeling guilty for driving his Mercedes, psycho ex-girlfriends who call just to tell him how much of a jerk he is, and getting advice from his best and only friend Owen, his literary agent.

Joe's return to Hope Falls is anything but dull. While his father's physical condition worsens, he begins to get to know his jock brother Brad and Brad's family a bit better. Joe forms a special bond with Brad's son Jared, a somewhat rebellious teenager who has a penchant for paintball and marijuana. Joe even gets re-acquainted with Carly, his high-school sweetheart and only woman he's ever loved and his best friend Wayne who is dying from AIDS. To top it off, Joel is presented with the opportunity to live out a childhood fantasy with one of his best friend's mom.

Meanwhile, Joe must deal with the wrath of those who were affected by his writing, including an ex-con, a policeman, and the local basketball coach who practically owns the town. When the coach's wife greets Joe with a milkshake poured over his head, he knows he's in trouble. Even the book club gets in on the act by personally dumping their copies of his book on the front lawn. It seems that everyone wants a piece of him.

The Book of Joe is a touching coming-of-age story told with a smidgen of emotion and a truckload of sarcasm and humor. Jonathan Tropper (Plan B) has created a first person narrative that dances back and forth through time, from his Springsteen-inspired teen years, to his unpredictable present, never missing a beat. The Book of Joe is currently in development at Warner Brothers Studios. Let's just hope the movie is as good as the book.