Shouldn't you be home, sitting Sheba?

Ever since I started blogging I've heard about the author Jonathan Tropper.  Greg over at The New Dork Review has written about Tropper a few times and his descriptions are what initially made me want to check him out.  Then I started hearing about Tropper, especially his book This Is Where I Leave You, on a bunch of book blogs.  Unfortunately I don't remember all of the other places I've seen it or I would include links to each of them and give everyone their due credit.

I'm about 1/2 way through the book but I wanted to share my initial thoughts.  The book is funny but very angry.  I guess this is understandable.  It opens with the main character finding out his dad has died not long after he walks in on his wife screwing his boss.  I was prepared for the sarcasm, the wit and the snarkiness, but not the anger.  This isn't to say that the anger doesn't work.  I think it's because I'm coming off of Christopher Moore who is very witty and sarcastic with a good dose of dark humor, but even with all of this there is a happiness to it.  Even in Fool, the retelling of the tragedy of King Lear, there is a lightness that goes along with the darkest moments.  Tropper caught me off guard, though he really shouldn't have.  What I'm getting is exactly what I've been told to expect from both fellow bloggers and the book summary.  This has lead me to wonder if reading this book right now was smart or if I should have waited until I was in a different frame of mind.  For the most part I'm enjoying the book but I did consider putting the book down and trying it again. It seems like the kind of book I will really enjoy and I want to make sure I'm getting the most out of it. But I'm reading it now in part because I am liking it enough to continue on and also because I've already moved by box of books over to my new place and the other books are packed.

Have you ever started a book but knew it was the wrong time and you wouldn't enjoy it as much right then?  What would you do if you thought you weren't going to get the most out of a book at the time you were reading it?

On a different note, this is the second signed copy of a book I've bought recently.  The first was I Was Told There'd Be Cake.  I don't go out of my way to buy signed copies and I won't pay more for them but they do excite me.  I don't know why.  It's not like I was even there to meet the author and get my copy of the book signed.  There's no logical reason to like the signed copies so much, hence the reason I won't pay more for it, but I do smile a little wider when I see that "Signed Copy" sticker on the cover.  Perhaps if these authors become super famous these autographed copies will be worth a lot of money.  Fingers crossed.

Title quote from page from page 72.