A Family Tradition of Banter and Insult

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and had a chance to pick up the new Book Club Book, This is Where I Leave You. As I mentioned last week, we started with just chapter 1 so anyone still looking to pick up the book won’t have a hard time catching up with us overachievers – or those lucky enough to have electronic devices that only require one click purchase.

My initial thoughts on the first chapter is that Jonathan Tropper has done an amazing job of painting a wonderfully descriptive picture of this family that we will be spending the next several weeks getting to know. In an effort to not give away any spoilers before we really get started, I thought the best way to introduce this book to the Book Club would be to offer some early thoughts on the Foxman family.

QuoteJudd – When Life Gives You Lemons, Sometimes Lemonade Just Isn’t an Option

You can just feel the exasperation in his voice. Life has thrown him some pretty messed up curve balls. For those of you who haven’t read the first chapter, much less gone a little beyond like me, I’ll keep the details to myself. I’ll just say that if what happened to him happened to any of us, we might be a little pissed off at the world ourselves.

Wendy – I Hate My Life But The Paycheck is Really Nice

Take a girl who lived a lifetime with a family who seems to be void of normal human emotion, drop her in the middle of a marriage that seems to be successful because her husband travels and makes lots of money, and you get jaded, callous Wendy. Even when she’s trying to be sincere, the words just don’t come out right. I’m looking forward to seeing how many inappropriate things she says once the whole Foxman family gets together since her largest concern with Judd when telling him about their father’s death was appropriately conjugated verbs.

Mom and Dad Foxman – The Creators of Snark and Insensitivity

Mom wanted to know how much to tip the coroner which made me wonder – Is tipping the coroner an actual thing? Dad is dead, but his personality is all over the pages. I could just see him complaining about not feeling well and then fussing at his wife for suggesting he see a doctor. Does that sound like any men in your life? Oh, and he apparently drinks peach schnapps.

Phillip – The Paul McCartney of the Family (Better looking than the rest of us, always facing a different direction in pictures, and occasionally rumored to be dead)

He’s the youngest sibling and fits that stereotype perfectly. The wandering uncle/son/brother who weaves in and out of everyone’s lives, but never stays too long. I’m guessing he’s always trying to find himself. We all have one of these in our family. Everyone sits around wondering when they are going to take responsibility for their lives, but secretly wish we could be that carefree. They are like Fun Bobby from Friends – if they ever do figure it out, none of us will want them around anymore.

That’s my take on the Foxman family for now. Have you bought your book and read the first chapter yet? Which character are you most excited to get to know better? Have you ever been more excited for a funeral to get started?

When I looked at the book to determine the natural breaks for the Book Club going forward, I was thrilled to discover the book is broken out into days. How convenient since I mentioned I have end of school brain and am not mentally prepared to think much more than I have to. Let’s read all of “Wednesday” and then regroup next week. The comments last week were awesome, so keep it up!

Let the shiva begin!

 

Christie Pettus
Christie Pettus is a full time working wife and mother living her suburban cul de sac dream in Orange Park, Fl. She is Mom to two awesome teenagers, McKenzie and Ethan, who have come to accept that certain parts of their lives will be blogged about, so they should act accordingly. As graduates of the University of Florida, she and her husband Ryan can be found rooting on their alma mater every chance they get including the more obscure sports. LaCrosse anyone? When she’s not judging her kids' questionable teenage choices, she can be found hiding in a room buried in a good book or writing, editing, and dreaming about being a full-time author.

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