Whilst I would not describe myself as mean, I do like a good bargain and when I saw that I could buy Jonathan Tropper's "How to talk to a Widower" for only £1.99 if I spent over £10.00 I pounced. I picked up the book and gave the back cover blurb a cursory skim but if the truth be told, I could ... Read review
When Doug Parker married Hailey - beautiful smart and ten years older- he left his ... more
carefree Manhattan life behind to live with her and her teenaged son Russ in a quiet Westchester community. Three years later Hailey has been dead for a year and Doug a widower at 29 just wants to drown himself in self-pity and Jack Daniels. But his family has other ideas...Russ is furious with Doug for not adopting him after Hailey died and has fallen in with a bad crowd. Claire Doug's irrepressible and pregnant twin sister has just left her husband and moved in uninvited determined to turn his life around. Then there's Debbie their younger sister engaged to Doug's ex-best friend and maniacally determined to pull of the perfect wedding at any cost. Soon Doug finds himself trying to forge a relationship with Russ reconnecting with his own eccentric nuclear family and reluctantly dipping his toes into the shark-infested waters of the second-time-around dating scene. It isn't long before his new life is spinning hopelessly out of control cutting a harrowing and hilarious swath of sexual missteps and escalating violence across the suburban landscape.Funny sad sexy and smart HOW TO TALK TO A WIDOWER is a novel about finding your way even when you have no idea where it is you want to go.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
When Doug Parker married Hailey - beautiful smart and ten years older - he left his ... more
carefree Manhattan life behind to live with her and her teenage son Russ in the suburbs. Three years later Hailey has been dead for a year and Doug a widower at 29 just wants to drown himself in self-pity and Jack Daniels. But his family has other ideas...Russ is furious with Doug for not adopting him after Hailey died and has fallen in with a bad crowd. Claire Doug's irrepressible and pregnant twin sister has just left her husband and moved in uninvited determined to turn his life around. Then there's Debbie their younger sister engaged to Doug's ex-best friend and maniacally determined to pull of the perfect wedding at any cost. Soon Doug finds himself trying to forge a relationship with Russ reconnecting with his own eccentric nuclear family and reluctantly dipping his toes into the shark-infested waters of the second-time-around dating scene. It isn't long before his new life is spinning hopelessly out of control...
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Advantages: Funny, touching, fluent writing Disadvantages: A little repetitive
...the reactions he has to how other people treat him and how they in turn are affected by Hailey's death. I am sure that people who have been through an experience like this will be able to identify with Doug, I know that I was certainly able to identify with the reaction of Doug's friends who never really knew how to behave or what to say.
One day soon - if the rights have not already been negotiated - I can see this being made into ... ...the lines of "Sleepless in Seattle" are there -romance, heartbreak, comedy, typical teens, tears. As it is, this is a book that will continue to enchant readers with a simple tale beautifully told.
352 pages
The Waterstones offer no longer applies but this book is available from Amazon for £3.49 ... more
Whilst I would not describe myself as mean, I do like a good bargain and when I saw that I could buy Jonathan Tropper's "How to talk to a Widower" for only £1.99 if I spent over £10.00 I pounced. I picked up the book and gave the back cover blurb a cursory skim but if the truth be told, I could not remember anything about it by the time I got home. I have been pleasantly surprised by other books I have chosen from those books selected for "Richard and Judy's Summer Reads" and so I suspected I would not be disappointed. However, the book sat for some weeks in the middle of a precarious tower of reading yet to be done, the moment never seemed right for a book that sounded to me quite heavy and serious.
The story is very simple: writer Doug Parker finds his perfect life turned upside down when Hailey, his wife of three years, is killed in an aeroplane crash. One year on and Doug's family and friends agree that it's time for them to pull Doug out of his depression and get his life back on track. But with a senile father who liked to play ball naked in the garden, a teenage stepson who is going off the rails and a married neighbour who is offering more than meatloaf and condolences, Doug finds that starting over isn't as easy as his twin sister Claire thinks.
To be honest the story is nothing special; in fact its pretty predictable. What makes "How to talk to a widower" such a great book is the writing. Tropper's prose flows beautifully and is almost poetic in parts and he has created in Doug a character it is hard not to empathise with. As far as I know the author hasn't experienced such a tragedy in his own life but he writes as if he speaks with personal knowledge. In talking about love and loss Doug doesn't say anything we haven't all heard or said ourselves but it is the way in which he says it that hooked me from the start.
Interspersed with the story are e-mails between Doug and his literary agent and some of the magazine articles Doug has written about his situation. In theory these are a good idea but I found that they lost some dramatic impact because they described things that had already been said in the course of the story proper. I would have preferred them to be insights offering something new rather than the repetitions they became.
The other characters are well-drawn and lively even if it is stretching the imagination a little to expect to find all of them in just one small family unit. I particularly liked the way that the author managed to bring the reader up to speed with all the characters in a quite subtle way without ever detracting from the central character. My favourite character was Doug's neurotic pill-popping mother who has no notion of discretion when discussing her own sex life with her children.
Although this book made me cry more than once, it also made me laugh a lot and the humour is quite dark at times: the scenes where Doug tries to exterminate the rabbits that dig up his lawn are hilarious. The most striking aspect however is the way Doug describes his grief and the reactions he has to how other people treat him and how they in turn are affected by Hailey's death. I am sure that people who have been through an experience like this will be able to identify with Doug, I know that I was certainly able to identify with the reaction of Doug's friends who never really knew how to behave or what to say.
One day soon - if the rights have not already been negotiated - I can see this being made into a film; all the necessary components for a movie along the lines of "Sleepless in Seattle" are there -romance, heartbreak, comedy, typical teens, tears. As it is, this is a book that will continue to enchant readers with a simple tale beautifully told.
352 pages
The Waterstones offer no longer applies but this book is available from Amazon for £3.49
Advantages: Sympathetic characters, interesting premise, both funny and touching Disadvantages: None, I thought it was excellent
...The story also shows how grief can lead you to abandon your morals (or at least set them aside for a time) when comfort of a sexual nature is provided in the arms of his neighbour's wife. Doug believes that the stunning red-head next door comes with no strings attached sex. Instead however, things start to go wrong when the woman starts to fall in love with him.
In addition, we follow Doug's first forays back into the world of dating. A world he ... ...other people just not knowing how to act around the bereaved. The awkwardness which people display when they just don't know the right thing to say is something which many people will recognise.
There were also a few surprising moments which you just don't see coming. There are resolutions of sorts, Doug decides that he can and indeed will be a father to his teenage step-son. We also see him breaking off with the aforementioned married woman to ...
space_chick2004 22.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of How To Talk To A Widower - Jonathan Tropper
Advantages: First page through until last! Disadvantages: Absolutely none
...- this book is about how our hero lives the following 12 months following the loss of his wife. His immediate family are hilariously disfunctional and weaved intrinsically thorughout the book - a mad dad, and weird mum, a sister on the verge of divorce and another on the verge of marriage. It talks of new relationships and the guilt he feels, his relationship with the wonderful character that is his step son and the loser that is his step sons real ... ...willed sister leaves her husband and turns up on his door step.
It will make you cry (man cry on my account), but it will make you laugh out loud and is an incredibly sensitively written portrayal with a good dose of very real comedy - the perfect combination!
I started reading it on the plane and embarrasingly (I was travelling alone) went through the whole range of emotions from a tear trickling down my cheek, to laughing out loud, followed by ...
dickyj 20.09.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of How To Talk To A Widower - Jonathan Tropper
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Quick review of How To Talk To A Widower - Jonathan Tropper
This book is excellent due to its deep sadness due to the death of Hailey yet it is also unexpectedly funny. It goes into detail about the way Doug feels about the death of his wife and how it has effected his own life as well as his stepson's and those around him. The story follows his journey trying to start looking for love again, adopting his stepson who is himself struggling to cope and also outting up with his family with whom he has managed to ignore up until now. Throught the story he realises that others around him also have problems including his twin sisters pregnancy and his little sisters wedding. Most of all it manages to portray the difficulty of losing someone you love and trying to move on without forgetting them. ...
lyndz887 24.04.2008
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of How To Talk To A Widower - Jonathan Tropper
Advantages: Utterly Compelling Disadvantages: This book may make many readers recollect their own trajic losses
This book is one of the rare books that makes an elusive, emotional connection with the reader, Tropper uses the text with great effect, building an emotional relationship with the reader, as a reader i felt i was taken on an emotional voyage with so many highs and lows that felt more real than ever .I felt empathy with such an extent in was almost as if i was part of the grieving family. As the relationship of the widower and son is tested in such ...
af6789 24.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of How To Talk To A Widower - Jonathan Tropper
When Doug Parker married Hailey - beautiful, smart and ten years older - he left his carefree Manhattan life behind to live with her and her teenage son, Russ, in the suburbs. Three years later, Hailey has been dead for a year, and Doug, a widower at 29, just wants to drown himself in self-pity and Jack Daniels. But his family has other ideas...Russ is furious with Doug for not adopting him after Hailey died, and has fallen in with a bad crowd. Claire, Doug's irrepressible and pregnant twin sister, has just left her husband and moved in, uninvited, determined to turn his life around. Then there's Debbie, their younger sister, engaged to Doug's ex-best friend and maniacally determined to pull of the perfect wedding at any cost. Soon, Doug finds himself trying to forge a relationship with Russ, reconnecting with his own eccentric nuclear family, and reluctantly dipping his toes into the shark-infested waters of the second-time-around dating scene. It isn't long before his new life is spinning hopelessly out of control...
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