Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Long Goodbye


One Last Thing Before I Go
Jonathan Tropper
Fiction

I read Mr. Tropper’s other book, This Is Where I Leave You, and I found it hilarious, so I was eager to pick this one up. Was it as good as This? No. Did I end up liking it by the end? Yes.

One Last Thing Before I Go is the story of Silver. His ex-wife is getting re-married, his eighteen year-old daughter is dealing with an accidental pregnancy, and he’s just found out he’s dying. Instead of opting for the surgery to prolong his life, Silver decides he’s ready to meet death’s door. He tries to make up for being a horrible father, husband, son, and brother in the process, but he doesn’t have much luck there.

I’ll give Mr. Tropper this: he always creates interesting characters. And his dialogue sparkles. Sadly, sometimes there’s not enough dialogue. I definitely skimmed a lot. Casey, the daughter, was my favorite character and I wished we could’ve spent some more time in her head. Also, Denise, his ex-wife, wasn’t fully fleshed out. But the ending wrapped everything up nicely and I came away from the book with a warm glow.

If you like Mr. Tropper’s other novels, you’ll love this one. If you’ve never read him before, start with This Is Where I Leave You.


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