Book - Book of Joe

The Book of Joe cover

[ US UK ]

The Book of Joe

by Jonathan Tropper

Rating: ★★★½

Synopsis: Right after high school, Joe Goffman left sleepy Bush Falls, Connecticut and never looked back. Then he wrote a novel savaging everything in town, a novel that became a national bestseller and a huge hit movie. Fifteen years later, Joe is struggling to avoid the sophomore slump with his next novel when he gets a call: his father’s had a stroke, so it’s back to Bush Falls for the town’s most famous pariah. His brother avoids him, his former classmates beat him up, and the members of the book club just hurl their copies of Bush Falls at his house. But with the help of some old friends, Joe discovers that coming home isn’t all bad – and that maybe the best things in life are second chances.

I really like How to Talk to a Widower, this was an earlier book by My. Tropper. Its excellent. Deals with some tough issues around homosexuality, small towns and growing up. Like How to Talk to a Widower it hashes through some tough family choices. The book is also laugh out loud funny.