Publishers Weekly
After Joe Goffman's Bush Falls becomes a runaway bestseller, he never expects to go back to his small Connecticut hometown and face the outrage generated by the dark secrets his autobiographical novel reveals. But when his father suffers a life-threatening stroke, return the unhappy and unfulfilled Joe does, to meet head-on the antipathy waiting for him. Among the Bush Falls locals hellbent on revenge in this breezy sophomore effort by Tropper (Plan B) are deputy sheriff Mouse and ex-con Sean Tallon, both former members of the high school basketball team, as well as the wife of the basketball coach, who dumps a milk shake on Joe the first day he is back in town. Joe also crosses paths with his resentful older brother, Brad; Lucy, the sexy mother of a high school friend; and Carly, the only woman he ever truly loved. At its best, the novel skillfully illustrates the tenderness and difficulties of first love and friendship, exploring the aftermath of Joe's high school relationships with Carly and pals Sammy and Wayne. Fans of Tom Perrotta's sarcastic humor will appreciate Tropper's evocation of both the allure and hypocrisy of smalltown American life, particularly in drug- and alcohol-fueled episodes involving Joe's 19-year-old nephew, Jared, and a grown-up, AIDS-infected Wayne. Frequent pop culture references, particularly to Bruce Springsteen, help move things along briskly and by novel's end, Joe has learned to appreciate the virtues of Bush Falls and realize he's not perfect himself. Despite its charms, however, this boy-who-won't-grow-up novel relies too heavily on canned lines ("she's taking measurements of my soul through her eyes") and easy melodrama. (Mar. 30) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
The residents of Bush Falls, CT, cannot forgive native son Joe Goffman, 34, for writing a best-selling, autobiographical, tell-all novel about their hometown; they recognize themselves in its unflattering and incisive pages. When he receives a call telling him that his father is in a coma, Joe returns home after years in Manhattan to face his demons. Joe grew up smart but not particularly athletic in a family where both his father and his older brother enjoyed stellar careers with the town's revered high school basketball team. This and the sting of his mother's suicide left young Joe isolated until his senior year, when he made two close friends, Sammy and Wayne, and fell in love with Carly. In the marvelously funny and self-deprecating voice of Joe, Tropper (Plan B) fully realizes his characters and tells their stories with poignancy, wit, and charm. This coming-of-age story is a keeper; fans of Tom Perotta and Nick Hornby will enjoy. Highly recommended for most fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/03.]-Sheila Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Tropper follows his lightweight Plan B (2000) with a light but solid first-person story of a novelist who hits big money with a Peyton Place-esque outing but feels as beset as Job. Seventeen years after leaving his hometown, Joe Goffman has trashed it in his moneymaker Bush Falls, moved to a fancy apartment on Central Park West in Manhattan, has had endless chicks, and now for six months has taken up a celibacy that leaves him lonely, self-pitying, and sex-starved. His agent lives like a Roman Emperor off Joe's book and film sales but thinks Joe's "postmodern" new novel is beneath him. Joe's sister-in-law Cindy calls to say his father has had a stroke and Joe should come back to Bush Falls, where townsfolk once tried to sue him. He returns as Joe Schmuck, disliked by all: Deputy Sheriff Mouse, ex-con Sean Tallon, and basketball star older brother Brad, among others, while finding himself tearfully still in love with high-school sweetheart Carly, who has a Harvard degree in journalism and edits the local paper. And then there are his old buddies, frenetic Sammy and easygoing Wayne (dying of AIDS). His schizo mother leapt into Bush Falls when Joe was 12, so she's not around to hate him. Will Joe-in his silver Mercedes and having learned nothing from You Can't Go Home Again-reform, grow up, and become a lovable human being? The tone for his homecoming is established through a scene in the local diner: Francine Dugan, the wife of high-school Coach Dugan, whom Joe has maliciously and untruthfully described in his novel as a masturbator in love with the bodies of young boys, dumps a milkshake on his head. It will take death and ashes, not to mention the immolation of his Mercedes, for Joe andvirtue to bind and for Joe to find hope in his pursuit of Carly. Some sprinkles of excellence provide pep without lifting the whole. Agent: Simon Lipskar/Writers House
