Oh, Jonathan Tropper, how I've missed you.It's been way too long since I read Jonathan Tropper. Tropper's one of those authors who consistently has me laughing out loud and enjoying myself through each of his books. While his characters all tend to be similar (over-analytical, self-critical, white, upper middle-class), it doesn't really matter because I love how Tropper brings them to life in awkward and hilarious situations. And he is - bar none - the master of dialogue.Yes, Plan B is a little

This is my third Tropper novel, but it was his first and it definitely reads that way. The writing was still great - he writes excellent, hilarious characters - but there was a bit of adjective abuse, particularly in the first chapter (like this horrifically over-written sentence: "The restaurant's dim lighting lent a jaundiced pallor to his already ashen complexion, making him appear gaunt and sickly.") and I'm not really much of a fan of protagonists who are also authors.Also - it wasn't in pr...

There was a time when books were automatically going to be better than their cinematic knock offs. I think it's no coincidence that with the rise of movie making and viewing the opposite is becoming more and more true.I have noticed that in the last twenty years of writing, books have sounded either like they are trying too hard to be a sitcom or movie because that is mainly what the writer has been exposed to, or that the book is just waiting to be put to movie form, thereby secreting superfici...

I think I would have felt differently about this book if I was younger. The fact that all characters were freaking out that they were turning 30 was a problem for me, since I am over 30. I tried to think back two years ago to when I turned 30 - did I freak out? Was I freaked out about where I was in life? Did I wish I could go back to college?Sometimes. Mostly so I had less responsibilities. But I was never sad about where I was. I sort of hate when people wallow. A day or two, I fully support.

3.5 stars... Tropper has my literary number... and even though this is his debut and he’s matured a lot, I still enjoyed this book a great deal!

Three books in, and it's safe to declare that anything I read of Tropper is a slam dunk for me. This is his first novel and, while it shows (helllooo adjective abuse!), it's still one of those novels that makes you feel an instant familiarity to its characters, to the storyline, to the ease with which Tropper makes this whole process appear. And by process, I mean, you know, WRITING A NOVEL.In Plan B, we have five college friends, Ben, Lindsey, Alison, Chuck and Jack — all hitting the milestone

Ohmygodsodisappointing.I love Jonathan Tropper. And I'm not going to hold Plan B against him. It happens. This was bad. Cheesy one-liners, everything always working out just when it needed to...it was kind of like reading a super-sized episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 (original, duh). I love 90210. Because I know what to expect. I don't expect this hokey BS from Tropper.There was even a kid that found his way into the plot. Seriously, how many times did Brandon find himself giving some fatherly g...

2.5 Stars. Gosh I hate giving this book a negative review, but after reading 6 other JT books, I just don't feel this one was in the same league. I didn't much care for the characters who acted kind of juvenile for age 30 and found no laugh out loud moments as is customary for me. Am so glad I did not read this debut novel first as I may not have discovered Tropper as one of my favorite authors. Look forward to future books!

3.5 Stars rounded to 4. Not my favorite Tropper book but still good because he's such a great writer.

Again, I am not going to get into the plot because you can get that from reading somebody else's review and frankly, it makes me feel like I'm writing a fifth grade book report. Suffice it to say, I love Tropper's writing and have read and liked every single book he has witten. His characters are often funny, often eccentric or both, but always real, his stories are gripping, and his style is lighthearted one moment, poignant the next. "Plan B" is no exception. Tropper and Tom Perrotta have simi...

I very rarely abandon a book midway through, but I made an exception for Plan B. I've read and enjoyed a couple of Jonathan Tropper books before (The Book of Joe and Everything Changes). But I found the whiny characters, the constant reminiscing and the long trying-to-be-witty soliloquies to be unpalatable. The main character feels like a loser because he has what he considers a dead-end job at Esquire magazine. He wants to be writing the big features, but is stuck doing silly lists... in the bo...

I’ve read several of Tropper’s books. He specializes in the dysfunctional family. This one concerns four friends: our narrator, Ben, long in love with Lindsey, but just getting divorced from Sarah; Chuck, the Rogaine-using surgeon who can’t seem to get enough sex; Jack, a movie star with a bad cocaine habit, now estranged from them after they attempted a half-hearted intervention; and Allison, Jack’s sort of girlfriend.But the worst thing is they’re turning thirty. “If I were a dog I’d be dead.

Like Nick Hornby, reading Jonathan Tropper is sort of like pulling on a comfy sweater or slipping into a warm bath. There's just something about his stories of angsty, pop-culture-obsessed thirtysomethings that resonates with me (even though I'm now an angsty, pop-culture-obsessed fortysomething, and isn't that a sad state of affairs). Even so, I have to admit that his first book is entertaining but underwhelming – a little clumsy in places and definitely too pleased with itself, with just a sou...

I'd read other novels by Jonathan Tropper before reading Plan B, which was a good thing because if I'd read this first I would have given up on him. It's very obvious to me that this was his first novel, based on the plot and character development. It was also obvious this was his first time at the rodeo because his publisher didn't give him a good editor as there are some glaring errors in this novel - I'm talking spelling, mistakes in character names, and some logistics that a good editor woul...

3.75 Stars. Ben, Lindsey, Jack, Allison and Chuck have been friends since college. On the verge of their 30s, they are each faced with the question of "what am I doing with my life?" The most pressing issue is Jack's growing drug problem, which is going to dealt with by the group as a full-on kidnapping scheme in hopes to get Jack clean.Although you can tell this is Tropper's first novel (characters aren't quite as complex, story doesn't roll as effortlessly), his promise of brilliance still lur...

This is like reading a very funny historical novel in a way. Recent history, but technology changes so quickly it feels like a long time ago. Beepers, VCRs, Baywatch, the cultural references are fun, but what makes this novel enjoyable is the writing. Tropper is great at being sneakily insightful about life while seeming to just be writing an amusing tale of friends who kidnap their drug-addicted movie star friend to force him to detox and give him a chance to get off the cocaine. The happy endi...

And this has finally convinced me not to read anymore Tropper books. I found this bland, boring, and whiny. I found myself skimming over most of the book.

God, I love this author so much. So awesome. Full review to follow

Not my favorite by him, but still great! Few authors can lay out the complexity of adult relationships like he can.

Loved it!Okay, there were moments when I found the story far-fetched, and I always have difficulty when history is tampered with (though this wasn't such a big deal - who cares if Julia Roberts and Harrison Ford never made the movies they made in Plan B?), but in the end, it felt great to have read this book. In fact, when I closed the book at the end, I felt better about myself, which is not a feeling I think I've ever gotten from a book before. It was really cool to read about a group of peopl...