Plan B

Rating:
Summary: a fun read!
Review: A friend of mine got me this book for m 30th birthday, and I couldn't put it down. I can't believe how accurate it was. So many of Ben's feelings about turning 30 mirror my own - disappointment at the fact that you aren't where you thought you would be at this age; fear of drifting apart from your dearest friends, etc. This book deals with all of those issues and more. I was also very touched by the passages with Ben and Jeremy, the nine year old who has just lost his father. How often do you read about a single guy interacting with and caring about a young boy he's not related to?

Tropper got a lot of other points right as well, right down to the passage about office toys and toys in general. Yes, it is unbecoming for a 30-year-old to buy a Darth Vader mask, but that's hard to remember when you keep forgetting you're 30. I found the references to Star Wars and 80's music to be quite natural and not jarring or overabundant at all. These are common points of reference for our generation and they definitely fit in here.

The bottom line is that now that I have finished reading the book, the thing I remember the most is that wistful feeling that drove the book. I can't remember the last time I felt such empathy towards a male character, and I felt it because Ben's experience as a 30 newbie is universal.

Rating:
Summary: Our generation's brat pack!
Review: A lot of reviews of have mentioned how much this book talks aboutpop culture...some see it as a positive and others as a negative. I was drawn to this book for two reasons. 1) The cover says "Thirty ..." (which is funny) 2)The back of the book which speaks of, well, all the pop culture references. I'm sucker for that stuff I guess. Everything from Three's Company to Billy Joel (whose lyrics play a role--a first in a novel I've seen)is in there. The more astute among you may find parts formulaic. Yet, that really didn't bother me. Look at what sells in this genre of fiction today--all these books about plucky single ladies from London. If you are touched by a book, isn't that all that matters?

Tropper gets the details right. I'm closing in on 30 and share many of the feelings as our narrator, Ben. Trouble letting go of the past, fear of the future, etc. The music of 1980s, Star Wars, Seinfeld...these things were part of our lives and Tropper doesn't put them in to be cute. He puts them in because people actually look at life through the prism of these things. Tropper mentions an idea that I had discussed with my own friends (isn't it cool when you see your ideas validated by a good writer?)--the idea that Gen X is unified by it's pop culture. Many of us were.

I cared deeply about these characters and found myself reading 200 pages in one day just to see what happened. The plot, as Booklist says, is a bit like The Big Chill. And the Jack-Alison relationship bears an uncanny resemblance to the Rob Lowe-Mare Winningham relationship in St. Elmo's Fire. Except that the Alison character is far more appealing than the Mare Winnigham character (and Jack more appealing than Rob Lowe--in anything). Some of the events in the book do fit together a bit too perfectly, but it is fiction. And in the big picture, it was a book that gets it right. In fact, Tropper writes a great first novel. Now, why I can't meet a Lindsey?

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I got this book based on the cover and the back jacket. It was such a pleasant surprise. As the other reviewers said it is as though reading a telvision show (friends, thirtysomething, etc.) but it did not matter to me. I liked the characters, the writing style and as someone a few years from thirty I still related. At 26 I feel the way Tropper had his characters feel. The only reason this did not get 5 stars is because at times the book felt too "formula" and lacked any surprises. Not a bad thing when you feel the characters. I will without a doubt be on the lookout for his future books.

Rating:
Summary: Quit Whining!
Review: I picked up the paperback version of this book based on the sentiment conveyed on the front cover. Since I had this same sentiment about turning 30, I decided to give this book a read and see if I could relate to anything else in it.

I found that the five friends in this book had actually accomplished quite a bit by their 30th birthdays and shouldn't be complaining. However, we are our own worst critics and at some time during our 30's, we start looking back instead of forward. This book taught me to look forward and try to improve my current situation rather than looking back and whining about how good the good old days were.

This book is a predictable no-brainer, but it was still fun to read. The references to the 80's were also fun and brought back some memories for me.

Rating:
Summary: Ben Beats Bridget By A Long Shot
Review: I stumbled across Plan B at Borders and picked it up, expecting to read about yet another woman who's 29 going on 30 and living the single life in New York City. Well the only resemblance this book has to the slew of others out there about 20somethings and 30somethings is that Ben is a writer (most of the woman in the other books work in publishing). Thankfully this book is so much more substantial. I loved reading about Ben, Chuck, Lindsey and Allison. All of the characters and their emotions were so real as were the settings. Tropper has a wonderful ability to convey atmosphere. Haven't finished yet... I'm enjoying it so much I don't want it to end.

Rating:
Summary: Love the Reviews - and Loved the Book even More!
Review: I was just browsing Amazon and came across Plan B and all of the reviews and decided I just had to read the book for myself! And I'm really glad I did, because I truly enjoyed the book.

The characters in the story are perhaps not particularly original - but then again, it is refreshing to read a book about people who you might actually know or have something in common with! John Grisham has made a lot of money doing pretty much the same thing!

To those armchair critics (and hey, aren't we all) who complained about this and that, I say to you: Huh? Look, this is not Dickens or Hemmingway - it's just a first novel that makes no pretensions to classical literature. It is just a well told story and amusing read.

My point? If you buy the book and expect an easy going enjoyable story, then you will be very satisfied with Plan B. If you have Great Expectations for a timeless classic, then I advise picking up a copy of Huckleberry Finn!

Rating:
Summary: What a GREAT book!
Review: I wish I could give it higher than 5 stars. I don't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much. I found myself laughing out loud constantly. Then I would find myself crying. Tropper does a wonderful job developing the characters in the story. By the end of the book, you feel as if Ben, Lindsey, Jack, Chuck, and Alison are your own friends. I could definitely see this book as a movie. And I would definitely be the first to go see it. To Jonathan Tropper: what a wonderful book, and I can't wait for another novel

Rating:
Summary: At least a B-plus
Review: Jonathan Tropper is a new name in fiction with a ton of potential, apparently. I began to read this book, thinking...A bunch of whining 30 yr. olds? Can a forty-something boomer relate to this at all? The truth is, you don't have to be thirty to say s**t! It happens again at forty, and I suppose, anytime you hit a milestone. Tropper captures authentic emotions and likable characters, with a couple of caricatures thrown in for laughs. Ben, the protaganist, and his four college friends, hatch a half-baked and misguided plan to save their Hollywood friend from himself and cocaine. What results is a madcapcaper with some serious and thought-provoking moments, esp. where they all admit to their real motivations behind their participation in the plan. Chuck, the skirt chasing statutory rapist and resident physician, gets to make the wiittiest comments and even a great "guy"joke that even my husband appreciated.

Rating:
Summary: Not a 'How To' but fun nevertheless
Review: This book narrates an individual's coping with the insecurity and realization of the inevitability that comes at 30. I expected more of an impersonal observation; kind of a generalization of the insecurities and the ways to cope with it. However, at the end my realization is the same, and not so profound or unique; that everyone copes with it in his own way, by understanding what is most dear and desirable, by coming into terms with one's limits.

The book is funny and involving. I wish the writer wrote with more confidence in himself, in a more normal language. The colloquials capture his time and surroundings but somehow diminishes his acumen.

Rating:
Summary: Our generation's brat pack!
Review: This is one of the most fabulous books I have read in a long time. Truly a fusion of a great Friend's episode and the St. Elmo's Fire of the late 1990's. You will see yourself in Tropper's characters. I have given this book to many of my friends and everyone has loved it! I can't wait for Tropper's next book!