Plan B: A Novel

I love all of Johnathan Tropper's books, I've read all of them. This was the last one, (though the first) I loved all of them I can't wait for the next one. This one wasn't as funny as some of the other one's but still great!

PLAN B

Ten years ago, college friends had their hopes high for a great goal-achieved lives. Now, at the age of thirty, most of them are nowhere near their longed-for ambitions. These five -- narrator Ben, Lindsey, Alison, Chuck, and the only one who has made it, Jack -- meet up in a secluded lake home.

Jack has made the big time; he is a drop-dead gorgeous hunky movie star, yet is still close and friends with the other four. However, Jack has a nasty drug habit and his friends decide to help him get this monkey off his back. They try talking honestly with Jack and expressing their love and concern for his health and his future. When this fails, they decide to kidnap him, take him up to the lake house, and try help him through his withdrawal. Of course, nothing goes as planned -- or does it?

Jonathan Tropper writes with wit, humor, and relays how deep friendships go. This is a good, fun, exciting read, one that gets into the heads of each character, their love/disdain for each other, and their honest and loving attempt to help Jack. I always enjoy a Tropper book, and PLAN B was no exception.

This book comes highly recommended.

No one writes a male coming-of-age story better than Jonathan Tropper! (This could be my review in one sentence)

But, I will elaborate.

All too often I find that many writers deliver their best stuff early on in their career. I won’t mention names as they aren’t important to this review, but I have run across a large number who were great in the beginning. I think it’s a safe bet that their initial work is what landed them their big house publishing deals. But after book number five or six, sometimes ten or so, their books seem like early-day knock offs. The characters begin to sound like characters we’ve read before, with a name change.

A while back I read This Is Where I Leave You, a Tropper novel written in 2009 and probably the fifth or sixth book he’d written. (Even before I learned it was to be a movie) I loved it. Today I finished reading what I believe was his first book, Plan B. I’ll begin with his characters, as that is the only area I didn’t find fabulous. I would have found his characters wonderful had I not read This Is Where I Leave You. The characters in both books felt interchangeable and in both books, they felt like they just stepped out of Central Perk. Ben, the narrator, felt very much like Judd Foxman from TIWILY, with the rest of the cast filling in for Judd’s dysfunctional family. It’s not that they weren’t well-written, they were. I enjoyed reading them, but I would love to see the author introduce a few new characters in his next work. Someone refreshing and not the same emotionally confused, thirty-something, over analytical thinker that has shown up before.

As for dialogue, Tropper is up there with the best of them. The conversations between characters not only come off as real, but he makes you wish you were part of them. The characters come off as witty and comfortable with each other and you won’t find his turn of phrases in anyone else’s book.

There are a couple of scenes that are a bit over-the-top, just as there were in This Is Where I Leave You, but not so flamboyant as to kill the read. Actually, I believe I have now come to expect a little over-melee in his works.

My point about other writers burning out after several books is that Jonathan Tropper has not reached that point. If I compare his first book, Plan B, to his fifth or sixth, This Is Where I Leave You, my opinion is that his writing has gotten better. I would definitely pick up another of his books and hope that he continues to follow the trend he’s on now. He’s absolutely an author worth checking out.

I am willing to give Jon Tropper a pass for this novel, which was his first. After reading his more recent novels first, I found this one to be somewhat flat. The comparisons to the televison show Friends seem to fall short. Tropper himself compares the group in the Novel to "St. Elmo's Fire." I did not like that movie either. The book felt like "St. Elmo's Fire" with a few switches in the plot.

Thirty is the recommended point in your life when you can feel incomplete if you have yet to accomplish anything. This is the feeling that plagues the characters despite a famous actor and doctor bring among them. None are married or have children. Jack, the least cohesive member of the group has become as famous for his cocaine habit as for his movies. The other four members of the group attempt an intervention that includes drugging and kidnapping Jack before ultimately imprisoning him.

The situations lead to some cheap laughs, but nothing on par with Tropper's future books. With small town deputy, a crooked Hollywood agent, and Fox News as sources of humor, the laughs seems destined to fall flat. Pop cultural references that are dropped lie a cultural Tourette's Syndrome cause the plot meander at times. Entire chapter could have met their fate on the editting room floor. In the big picture, this makes the surprise at the end seem random.

I loved Tropper's other books particularly "This is Where I Leave You" and "Everything Changes". In his first book, Tropper's talents were still raw and forming. If this is your first Tropper book, you may not read another.

This novel falls into the category of light reading, but light reading that's great fun. Four 30-year-olds who feel their lives have not yet blossomed in ways they had hoped hatch a scheme - an intervention, they call it - to help a drug-addicted 30-year-old friend who'd become a famous actor. Bright though the four are, their intervention is so poorly planned as to ensure that things are likely to go wrong. Which they do. In the course of making a mess of things and then dealing with the zigs and zags of extricating themselves from the mess, they achieve some realizations about themselves and their yearnings.

Although some of the characters and some aspects of the story line seem far-fetched (even within the context of a story that's rather far-fetched), and although the first couple of chapters didn't grab me, this still rates as a fine first novel. I really enjoy Tropper's writing style. It's possible I'm swayed in my opinion by the fact that I recently read one of his later novels - "How to Talk to a Widower" - which I loved. But there's been many a time when I loved the first book I read by a given author and was then disappointed by a subsequent book by the same author. This novel is easy to read, a nice mix of poignant and humorous, adequately suspenseful, and with insight into the angst that people like his four main characters might realistically experience. (Perhaps Tropper has been there, done that.)

I went to high school in the 80's and for good or bad seem to be able to reference much of life's moments back to television, music and pop culture. I guess that is part of being in the X generation. Plan B is about 5 friends from college from the X generation who met at NYU in the late 80's and also spend time reflecting their lives through a pop culture filter. They each hit 30 years of age around 1999 when the story seems to take place. Reading the book was like watching a romantic comedy and I could picture Paul Rudd as the main character and narrator Ben - funny but overly serious, likable but irreverent, all male but a little effeminate, sensitive but sticks his foot in his mouth, struggling in the love department but never truly without someone and prone to introspection even if the only event of the day was that his shoe laces were untied. The plot is filled with much that couldn't happen in real life but that's not a rule a rom com should follow anyway so I really enjoyed it. It had a lot of laugh out loud dialogue with just the right response like a character Lauren Graham would play - a pop culture reference was required for this review.

Before reading Jonathan Tropper's debut novel Plan B I had previously read his sensational novel The Book of Joe. Whilst The Book of Joe was a little bit lighter read than this book the same high quality of characters and superb writing mean you can't put Plan B down until the final page. Ben (a similar character to Joe in The Book of Joe) has just turned 30 as are the small number of friends he still has. One's Chuck, a successful doctor who seems to take every opportunity he can to sleep with younger women, another's Alison a successful lawyer who has been in love with Jack since university. Jack is now a famous Hollywood actor who unbeknownst to the public is addicted to cocaine and on a downward spiral. Then there's Lindsey, Ben's ex girlfriend who is currently unemployed.

Ben married another woman while still in love with Lindsey and is freshly divorced. Life didn't turn out the way any of them thought it would and mid life crisis is an understatement for all but Jack. They all see Jack as being all but dead in a few years if they don't intervene. An intervention doesn't work so they go to plan B, kidnap him, drive to the country and keep him locked in a room until he detoxifies. They didn't really think the details of Plan B totally through however and things start to go wrong. They should have had a plan C but they don't.

This along with The Book of Joe is a sensational read. My Plan A is to find any other books by Jonathan Tropper and acquire them as soon as possible.

As someone who's approaching thirty myself, I picked up this book because 1) it looked funny and 2) I need to laugh about turning thirty so I don't freak out. Because, like the narrator, I still feel like nineteen wasn't so long ago.
However, aside from a few witty observations about what it means to actually be thirty (my favorite was the one about friends being like bone mass, even though I don't think it's true at all), I didn't much care for the book. It's a story of friendship--four friends, whose lives are pretty much stagnant, have decided to stage an intervention to reclaim their fifth friend, a coke-addicted movie star. The problem is not so much the implausible plot as the characters themselves. I didn't really care much about any of them--except the poor kid next door, Jeremy. They were all so self-absorbed, so wrapped up in...well, I'm not sure what they were wrapped up in, unless it was a hopeless aspiration to recapture their lost youth. And Ben keeps waxing lyrical about how talking to Jeremy makes him feel like a grown-up...I just want to shake him. News Flash, Ben: You are an adult, and have been one for about nine years! Get over yourself. Find something you can be passionate about. Then DO it, and stop whining!

A lot of reviews of have mentioned how much this book talks aboutpop culture...some see it as a positive and others as a negative. I was drawn to this book for two reasons. 1) The cover says "Thirty ..." (which is funny) 2)The back of the book which speaks of, well, all the pop culture references. I'm sucker for that stuff I guess. Everything from Three's Company to Billy Joel (whose lyrics play a role--a first in a novel I've seen)is in there. The more astute among you may find parts formulaic. Yet, that really didn't bother me. Look at what sells in this genre of fiction today--all these books about plucky single ladies from London. If you are touched by a book, isn't that all that matters?
Tropper gets the details right. I'm closing in on 30 and share many of the feelings as our narrator, Ben. Trouble letting go of the past, fear of the future, etc. The music of 1980s, Star Wars, Seinfeld...these things were part of our lives and Tropper doesn't put them in to be cute. He puts them in because people actually look at life through the prism of these things. Tropper mentions an idea that I had discussed with my own friends (isn't it cool when you see your ideas validated by a good writer?)--the idea that Gen X is unified by it's pop culture. Many of us were.
I cared deeply about these characters and found myself reading 200 pages in one day just to see what happened. The plot, as Booklist says, is a bit like The Big Chill. And the Jack-Alison relationship bears an uncanny resemblance to the Rob Lowe-Mare Winningham relationship in St. Elmo's Fire. Except that the Alison character is far more appealing than the Mare Winnigham character (and Jack more appealing than Rob Lowe--in anything). Some of the events in the book do fit together a bit too perfectly, but it is fiction. And in the big picture, it was a book that gets it right. In fact, Tropper writes a great first novel. Now, why I can't meet a Lindsey?

In this era of buddy movies and feel-good groups of friends relating in the post-college world, Jonathon Tropper's "PLAN B" fits right in there with the best of them. Like a postmodern episode of "Friends", Tropper presents his party of five with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and plot delicately balanced between reality and Hollywood.
A decade ago, five idealistic friends (Ben, the narrator; Lindsey, his then girlfriend; Chuck, the overweight geek cum womanizer; Alison, the soft-spoken one; and Jack, the all-american boy turned Hollywood superstar) graduated from NYU, rush headlong into the world, only to find, as they turn thirty, that the world has teeth and bites back with a vengeance. Each one seems to have suffered some injustice on their path...and as they converge one fatal summer to intervene in what becomes a comedic and often insightful display of aggressive friendship toward Jack, the more successful, yet most drastically flawed of the group--each learns a valuable lesson about him or herself that carries the story along quickly to its predictable resolution. I found the ending much too tidy and "Hollywood" for my taste, but feel that the writing style, character development, and emotional atmosphere rang true. Tropper delivers, in a loud, clear voice, a delightful work of fiction, from which I learned a little about the world around me, and even a little about myself. This one is highly recommended.

I purchased 'Plan B' after receiving a spammed e-mail from the author justifying his need for spamming due to being an unknown author who lacks the publicity and clout of other writers. I decided to go out on a limb and purchase his book. Afterall I could sympathize with his predicament. John Grisham sells Milions of books because he has an established name in the industry. Although I think he is the most overrated writer of the millennium.
What I enjoyed about 'Plan B' is angst the main charactor Ben goes through when turning 30. Being in my early 30's I related a great deal to a number of his statements and observations stated throughout the book. The book was easy to follow and contained some very pointed and witty writing.
One component which I felt was weak in the story was Jack the movie star. His friends put their lives and careers on the line for their friend. I honestly did not feel terribly sympathetic or compassionate towards him. Perhaps if the author wrote more flashback scenes citing and defining the background of their friendship, it would help me understand why they risked so much for this friend.
Sure this book may lack the philosophical or symbolic depth of such books as'Xen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance", but it provided a great deal of entertainment from a person whom indeed shaped their life in the '80's. I look forward to the next book!

I never even heard of this book until last year when I happened to see it in a used bookstore in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. As I flipped through it, I was impressed and just had to buy it. A few years ago, I read a novel called "Man and Boy" about the angst a man feels upon turning 30 and in that novel, there were plenty of "Star Wars" references. This one is similar in that regard. It is about Generation X, after all, and a perfect novel for anyone facing 30.

The author gets it right on so many things, all the ideas that go through our minds upon reaching 30. I had many similar thoughts as the narrator Ben, upon reflecting on one's disappointments that 30 isn't the age when we have it all together. What I also loved about this book are the many references to songs familiar to our generation, the songs that provide the synthesized soundtrack to our growing up years. Because of that, it makes this novel very generational specific and one that everyone in Gen X should read. Finally, we have a novel and author to call our own, after years of being inundated with Baby Boomer nostalgia in movies and books.

I also loved the story of a group of friends trying hard to stay as close as they were in college, even though different careers and interests drive them apart, most notably with Jack, who became a big action-movie star with a very bad cocaine habit. I enjoyed reading about how friendship can change when someone gets famous, yet still remain a part of their lives. In one instance, writer Jonathan Tropper mentioned how a neighborhood kid (Jeremy Miller) was in awe of Jack being next door, after having seen him on the big screen. Ben reflects on the kid's enthusiasm, thinking how its the very opposite for him (that he's in awe of seeing his friend Jack on the big screen). I think that is quite a truthful observation.

This novel surprises me at every turn. It didn't go as I expected it to go, and that is a very good thing. It surprised me at every turn with its well-paced and clever curveballs. It simply is a novel I did not want to see end. I really enjoyed getting to know the five friends and seeing how they all manage to face their own inner demons, even as they attempt to save their friend Jack from his addictions. Read this one, and enjoy. You'll no doubt start pondering about your own life and it might even inspire you to pick up the phone and call a long lost friend. If you know anyone approaching the big 3-oh, consider giving this novel as a gift. Its a fast, entertaining read, with a sweet sentiment that makes you feel good inside about turning 30. That's the age of new beginnings.

I liked this book, but then I like some television shows and Hollywood movies too. The five protagonists in <i>Plan B</i> are straight out of central casting, as they say. I found myself wondering if Jonathan Silverman (who even went to NYU and played an aspiring writer on a very bad TV show) is too old to play Ben now. Probably not. Ben is the narrator of this well-written and entertaining, but not particularly deep book and I have a feeling that he is supposed to be a likeable guy, but I didn't like him or particularly respect him. What kind of guy graduates from college with an English degree and wants to be a writer, but seems totally oblivious to the existence of any reference that doesn't refer to mainstream television or Hollywood movies. Ben is desperate to be part of the status quo. In college he and his friends abjure involvement in the Greenwich Village culture scene of avante garde music, experimental theater and independent films and cling tightly to the suburban banalities of their upbringing. And now Ben desperately wants the suburban banalities that he feels he is <i>supposed</i> to have at 30: a fulfilling and remunerative career, a loving wife and child and maybe even a house in the 'burbs (like his older brother has).
One of their little group from college has an out of control cocaine addiction. The Fab Four kidnap him and bring him to a country home on a lake in the Catskills. While they keep watch over him, they talk about LIFE. These are well written passages and they do shed light on the poverty of the inner lives of people who don't take chances and never leave the mainstream of American culture. It hardly ruins the book to say that Ben ends up happily teaching English in a rural public high school (without ever having earned a teaching certificate!) with the home, loving wife and baby he always wanted. This will make a pleasant movie and perhaps restart the career of Jonathan Silverman.

In accordance with some of the other reviews posted about Plan B, this book deserves attention as well as more than 5 stars.
Plan B has a beautiful ensemble of main characters that are really cohesive together, and are written in such a believable way to 'real life' its incredible. Each character shines in their own way, and you'll see a bit of your friends and yourself in everyone.
The story centers about four 30 something friends in trying to save a fifth friend from his own destruction, and in doing so discover more about themselves and each other despite being best friends over all these years. What makes this novel so great is the strength of the character's dialogue...I have had these conversations so many times myself, and had the same introspections that the main character Ben reflects upon.
Mixed in this tale that spans just a few short weeks is a great sense of humor (much like Nick Hornby's 'High Fidelity' & 'About A Boy'), all too real emotion and self-worth, quirky situations, and a non-stop pace. Every chapter left me begging for more, and I'd really like to see a sequel. This is begging to be made into a TV mini-series or movie.
Also, as a person who just turned 30 myself, the references to everything 80's and late 70's is a fun walk down nostalgia lane. There are things discussed within the chapters that brought a smile to my face as I too remember certain songs, shows, events, etc... that were part of my childhood and how I reacted to them in my life.
In a nutshell, I think this novel perfectly captures Generation X as we enter our 30's. Great job!

A friend of mine got me this book for m 30th birthday, and I couldn't put it down. I can't believe how accurate it was. So many of Ben's feelings about turning 30 mirror my own - disappointment at the fact that you aren't where you thought you would be at this age; fear of drifting apart from your dearest friends, etc. This book deals with all of those issues and more. I was also very touched by the passages with Ben and Jeremy, the nine year old who has just lost his father. How often do you read about a single guy interacting with and caring about a young boy he's not related to?
Tropper got a lot of other points right as well, right down to the passage about office toys and toys in general. Yes, it is unbecoming for a 30-year-old to buy a Darth Vader mask, but that's hard to remember when you keep forgetting you're 30. I found the references to Star Wars and 80's music to be quite natural and not jarring or overabundant at all. These are common points of reference for our generation and they definitely fit in here.
The bottom line is that now that I have finished reading the book, the thing I remember the most is that wistful feeling that drove the book. I can't remember the last time I felt such empathy towards a male character, and I felt it because Ben's experience as a 30 newbie is universal.

Plan B's plot is simple: five young people have just turned 30, and they first formed strong bonds of friendship while studying at NYU as undergrads. Two of them are not really going anywhere with their lives, either personally or professionally. Two have arrived professionally, but not personally. Jack, the last of the group, is a movie star--and he's addicted to cocaine. In an effort to help their friend Jack (and to reconnect with each other), they take him to a vacation home in a small town away from NYC. There, in a den of safety, they each confront reality and learn to look forward to the rest of their lives instead of moping about how great life was at NYU.

This is not a new story, and one is frequently reminded of Tom Perotta's Wishbones and the popular TV sitcom Friends. Tropper is a decent writer, but nothing to write home about (Perotta is certainly better). But all in all, this is a nice story with a happy ending. We all wish we could find a Lindsey, have no money worries, and lots of free time to enjoy life. I'm not sure what planet Chuck, the general surgery resident, lives on--but many of the details of his life as a resident (like his ability to have an unannounced 1-2 week vacation) are very inaccurate. He's guilty of all kinds of license-revoking acts in this book, so be prepared and suspend reality for a the duration of this pleasant, quickly finished story of five friends coming of age.

Jonathan Tropper is a new name in fiction with a ton of potential, apparently. I began to read this book, thinking...A bunch of whining 30 yr. olds? Can a forty-something boomer relate to this at all? The truth is, you don't have to be thirty to say s**t! It happens again at forty, and I suppose, anytime you hit a milestone. Tropper captures authentic emotions and likable characters, with a couple of caricatures thrown in for laughs. Ben, the protaganist, and his four college friends, hatch a half-baked and misguided plan to save their Hollywood friend from himself and cocaine. What results is a madcapcaper with some serious and thought-provoking moments, esp. where they all admit to their real motivations behind their participation in the plan. Chuck, the skirt chasing statutory rapist and resident physician, gets to make the wiittiest comments and even a great "guy"joke that even my husband appreciated.

There is much to like about Plan B. The subject of 30-something angst hardly lacks for exploration and much of the time it disintigrates into cliches. Not so for Tropper. Plan B lacks the depth and layers of Tropper's subsequent work, The Book of Joe, and I wish I'd read them in chronological order instead of reverse order, because Plan B suffers a bit by the comparison. Still it is great page-turner that tucks familiar themes into unique and entertaining contexts. As with Book of Joe, Tropper finds a way to explore complex emotional subjects without over-sentimentality or undue sappiness.

There is a problem with this book, though -- at least it was a problem for me, and it's not minor (although also not major, see below). I found the main character's (Ben's) love interest, Lindsey, to be entirely unlikeable. She is described by Ben as a lovable "free spirit," but you kind of have to take his word for it, because there's not much in the novel to confirm it. She comes across as petulent, a bit whiny, and unduly indecisive for reasons that are never quite clear other than a few casual lines near the end of the book. As you begin to care about and get attached to Ben, through his narration, you start wondering just what the heck he sees in her and wonder why on earth she has put him through the ringer. Ultimatley, it's not a huge deal, because the book depends virtually entirely on Ben's likeability, but not on Lindsey's, so it only detracts slightly from an otherwise very enjoyable book. Four very solid stars.

When my old writing mentor asks me what I am reading and I tell him I am reading either Jay McInerney or one of the novelists from the lost generation. I recently told him I was reading Jonathan Tropper. This book has a great plot and and is an enjoyable read. There are funny moments but it is not parallelled by authors such as McInerney or Flannery O' Connor. The ending is too wrapped up. Maybe I am a minimalist but I feel after reading this book that I was given the Scooby-doo scenario. You will enjoy reading this book, but I warn this is not for the people who enjoy the minimalist flow or those who are fans of the weathered humorist. It has it's funny moments but the ending is forced. This seems like the type of book that should have been written in screenplay format first if you know what I mean. (This book will no doubt spawn a film version.)

After reading and enjoying Tropper's The Book of Joe, I decided to go back in time and read his first novel, Plan B.

A good casual read, no doubt, but certainly not as fully realized as his later novels.

The plan B of the title refers to four college friends, all turning 30. They kidnap a fifth friend to force his detox from a coke habit. This could have been a much edgier, grittier plot, but these characters are from relatively privileged backgrounds. So the cokehead's "prison" is a study in an unused family vaction home in upstate New York. On a lake with geese. And woods. So much for grit.

Tropper's true gift is for the dialog of the semi-disaffected, semi-bitter, late 20-something. Two characters in particular, Ben (new divorce and aspiring writer), and Chuck (desperate playboy and aspiring surgeon) carry the novel's verbal thread to the end, keeping up a steady stream of bitter, witty banter. This is to the detriment of the development of the two female characters, Alison (wealthy attorney with good breeding), and Lindsey (drifting sometime teacher).

Alison and Lindsey come off as relatively two-dimensional characters. I was disappointed by this, as they are in pretty much every scene. (On the other hand, this makes the novel ripe for a screen treatment.) Alison is hopelessly in (unrequited) love with Jack (cokehead action hero actor), and she never really develops beyond that. We do learn that men think she is "hot" (see earlier screen treatment comment) - a not so helpful comment for fleshing out a main character, as the whole kidnapping idea is hers. Lindsey is relatively banal and somewhat meanspirited. She too is described as "hot" (see above parenthetical snark).

Essentially, this is a novel about friendship and the plan b's in life that we all go through around age 30. And I think the book is successful on the friendship level. However, I felt generally let down when I flipped the last page. Lindsey and Alison both solve their problems by falling in love, or out of love, respectively - defining themselves through men, when they both obviously need to finish defining themselves alone. Ben, Chuck and Jack all end up with great career boosting plans as solutions to their problems. I'm not trying to get all feminazi here, but it seems rather facile.

I'm going to attribute plot problems to this being Tropper's first novel. Overall, it wasn't horrible, but I'm glad I read The Book of Joe first, otherwise, I would not have chosen this one.

I picked up the paperback version of this book based on the sentiment conveyed on the front cover. Since I had this same sentiment about turning 30, I decided to give this book a read and see if I could relate to anything else in it.
I found that the five friends in this book had actually accomplished quite a bit by their 30th birthdays and shouldn't be complaining. However, we are our own worst critics and at some time during our 30's, we start looking back instead of forward. This book taught me to look forward and try to improve my current situation rather than looking back and whining about how good the good old days were.
This book is a predictable no-brainer, but it was still fun to read. The references to the 80's were also fun and brought back some memories for me.

After reading and enjoying Tropper's The Book of Joe, I decided to go back in time and read his first novel, Plan B.

A good casual read, no doubt, but certainly not as fully realized as his later novels.

The plan B of the title refers to four college friends, all turning 30. They kidnap a fifth friend to force his detox from a coke habit. This could have been a much edgier, grittier plot, but these characters are from relatively privileged backgrounds. So the cokehead's "prison" is a study in an unused family vaction home in upstate New York. On a lake with geese. And woods. So much for grit.

Tropper's true gift is for the dialog of the semi-disaffected, semi-bitter, late 20-something. Two characters in particular, Ben (new divorce and aspiring writer), and Chuck (desperate playboy and aspiring surgeon) carry the novel's verbal thread to the end, keeping up a steady stream of bitter, witty banter. This is to the detriment of the development of the two female characters, Alison (wealthy attorney with good breeding), and Lindsey (drifting sometime teacher).

Alison and Lindsey come off as relatively two-dimensional characters. I was disappointed by this, as they are in pretty much every scene. (On the other hand, this makes the novel ripe for a screen treatment.) Alison is hopelessly in (unrequited) love with Jack (cokehead action hero actor), and she never really develops beyond that. We do learn that men think she is "hot" (see earlier screen treatment comment) - a not so helpful comment for fleshing out a main character, as the whole kidnapping idea is hers. Lindsey is relatively banal and somewhat meanspirited. She too is described as "hot" (see above parenthetical snark).

Essentially, this is a novel about friendship and the plan b's in life that we all go through around age 30. And I think the book is successful on the friendship level. However, I felt generally let down when I flipped the last page. Lindsey and Alison both solve their problems by falling in love, or out of love, respectively - defining themselves through men, when they both obviously need to finish defining themselves alone. Ben, Chuck and Jack all end up with great career boosting plans as solutions to their problems. I'm not trying to get all feminazi here, but it seems rather facile.

I'm going to attribute plot problems to this being Tropper's first novel. Overall, it wasn't horrible, but I'm glad I read The Book of Joe first, otherwise, I would not have chosen this one.

The plot of this story wasn't really clear to me until I read the book. I typically do a lot of research before purchasing (research includes reading reviews, jacket covers, everything in `look inside' feature) and somehow missed what was going on. This, however, was a good thing. I was totally surprised and that helped me enjoy the book even more than if I'd been clued in. All I will say is that the plot is crazy; twists and turns and lots of risk taking and subsequent second guessing. At its core, the book is about five friends from college now in their 30s. Four of them need to come together to help their movie star buddy who has fallen on hard times and drug addiction. Though interventions have their place, that won't be enough for this crew. The story is basically about reuniting with old friends, finding purpose and direction and reprioritizing. The characters are all people you can really get behind (except maybe Chuck whose womanizing exploits serve mostly as comic relief) and root for. The story is fast paced, touching and funny all in turn. This was my second Tropper book and it certainly won't be my last.

I have trouble giving five stars (maybe something I need to explore) and won't give his one five stars simply because some of the characters, relationships, and plot points are a bit boilerplate - no reinventions of the wheel here. I can easily, however, see his books being translated to the big screen - think `entertaining' and you've got it.

I picked up the paperback version of this book based on the sentiment conveyed on the front cover. Since I had this same sentiment about turning 30, I decided to give this book a read and see if I could relate to anything else in it.
I found that the five friends in this book had actually accomplished quite a bit by their 30th birthdays and shouldn't be complaining. However, we are our own worst critics and at some time during our 30's, we start looking back instead of forward. This book taught me to look forward and try to improve my current situation rather than looking back and whining about how good the good old days were.
This book is a predictable no-brainer, but it was still fun to read. The references to the 80's were also fun and brought back some memories for me.

Plan B is a novel about friendship. It's about five 30-something friends struggling with work, romance and life. But the story focuses more on Jack, a famous Hollywood actor and cocaine addict. Ben (the narrator), Lindsey, Chuck and Alison try to help Jack face his demon by way of intervention. In denial, Jack refuses to get help. Desperate, the friends try Plan B: imprisoning Jack in a house in the country until the period of withdrawal passes. While they try to help their friend, they face their own demons and try to improve their lives.
The narration is nicely done and the comic timing is precise. I think that Jonathan Tropper could turn this into a movie (this book begs for a script). A nice read.

I enjoyed One Last Thing Before I Go and This is Where I Leave You, so I just bought Plan B right off the bat. Ugh. The characters are less human than the other novels. They are more like outlines of characters for a kid's book. I was willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of a zany story, but it's just . . . not thriving. I am only half way through and I'm giving up. Sorry Jonathan Tropper!

I got this book based on the cover and the back jacket. It was such a pleasant surprise. As the other reviewers said it is as though reading a telvision show (friends, thirtysomething, etc.) but it did not matter to me. I liked the characters, the writing style and as someone a few years from thirty I still related. At 26 I feel the way Tropper had his characters feel. The only reason this did not get 5 stars is because at times the book felt too "formula" and lacked any surprises. Not a bad thing when you feel the characters. I will without a doubt be on the lookout for his future books.

"Plan B" has movie script written all over it. As other reviews have said, it's clear that this book could be made into a movie....but, the question is, "A good movie?" I would hate to see this wonderfully warm, creative, and well written debut novel get the "movie make-over hack." The characters are interesting, multi dimensional, and you really are concerned about them and the fate they will face. I found this book to be very enjoyable and has a lot of postive qualities. This author has a lot of talent and it's clear he has a way with characterization and storytelling. A really nice read!

Having just turned 30 myself, I was drawn to this book with the hope that it would capture that creepy life equation: age + responsibility - college = adulthood. What I found was a book that tries a little too hard to sound hip, fills up on characters that play like Aaron Spelling-ized versions of real people and a plot that has a gaping hole where logic should be. IT'S MY LATEST GUILTY PLEASURE! I devoured it in a few hours, cast each role in the movie by the second chapter, and urged several friends to sell their organs on e-Bay if they didn't have enough cash to get their own copy. If you can get past the idea that five friends from NYU are a) still in touch, b) all wildly successful in their fields, and c) that those fields include doctor, actor, writer, lawyer, then navigating the botched intervention for the bad-boy movie star during a weekend in the country should be no problem. I'm sure James Van Der Beek or one of those girls from "Popular" will be optioning the rights to this---it was obviously written to be adapted. But that's ok---it's head candy. You want real fiction? Go pick up a celebrity biography.

This book had a strong St. Elmo's Fire vibe to it (which is one of my favorite movies). It's about a group of close college friends, dealing with growing up and growing apart now that college is over. They are all thirty or about to turn thirty and are very angsty about it. At times I was rolling my eyes thinking, "Give me a break - thirty is not THAT big of a deal." But overall I liked all the characters and the relationships between them.

If you like pop-culture references from the 80s, stop reading this review now, and just go get the book. Plan B was a fun read. I believe Mr. Tropper read "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby one too many times, but I won't hold it against him. The narrator is a professional list-writer at Esquire magazine, and in this book he and his three closest friends from college kidnap a fifth friend, who happens to be a movie star, to force him to kick a cocaine habit. Predictable? Yes, but there aren't too many books written about the trauma of turning 30.

This book is great if you're looking for a quick read, but not if you're looking for a deep, meaningful story. It's perfect for the late 20's/early 30's crowd and you'll definitely get nostalgic when the author lists popular 80s music (who doesn't perk up when they hear the Dexie's Midnight Runner version of 'Come on Eileen'?). However, the Ben and Lindsey storyline is way to idyllic to be be believable. Think "Less Than Zero" sans the drugs.

This book narrates an individual's coping with the insecurity and realization of the inevitability that comes at 30. I expected more of an impersonal observation; kind of a generalization of the insecurities and the ways to cope with it. However, at the end my realization is the same, and not so profound or unique; that everyone copes with it in his own way, by understanding what is most dear and desirable, by coming into terms with one's limits.
The book is funny and involving. I wish the writer wrote with more confidence in himself, in a more normal language. The colloquials capture his time and surroundings but somehow diminishes his acumen.

I can't remember the last time I so enjoyed a book. The story, about a group of friends who kidnap one of their crowd to get him off drugs, was gripping, and the fact that the friend was a movie star just added some fun complications along the way. Each of the characters here reminded me of one of my friends, and the author is to be commended for truly isolating the various quirks, fears, and personalities that are so prevalent in our generation (I'm forty-one, but I think i still qualify). The story is told by Ben, who is both ironic and sincere, somewhat depressed, but hysterically funny as he tries to make sense of his failures at age thirty and come up with a new plan (hence the title) to make his life more meaningful.
Many of the reviews here talk about how this will definitely be a movie. I can see their point, but I don't think a movie can capture the compelling tone of the narrative, which is what really holds this whole story together.
All in all, a fun, light read that you will absolutely enjoy and not soon forget.

I couldn't wait to write a review here - because I had never heard of Jonathan Tropper or Plan B until I surfed the store and came across it. So many people have such definite opinions on this book, and I was curious what Tropper writes that evokes such intensity.
So I went and bought the book - and I now understand what everyone is so fired up about. Let me say first that I really enjoyed the novel - it flows, with fun dialogue, real characters - especially the the young boy next door - and many interesting off-the-cuff observations (which incidentally became a pop-culture staple in and of themselves during the 80's).
One rebuttal to a reviewer: I read the one which claimed that Tropper didn't know what he was talking about with regards to a cabin in the woods - which is ridiculous because there is no cabin in the woods in the book. It is a vacation home in the Catskills, and the entire milieu is handled with a keen eye for the details (especially with the way the town exists during the "off season").
I highly recommend this book to anyone who just wants to enjoy himself or herself for a couple of hours. The story will grab you - not because it is in itself so riveting, but because it just seems so natural and has a genuine ring to it. Like most successful literary efforts, by the time you reach the last page, you truly feel that you know each and every one of the characters.
In short - you will not be disappointed if you buy this book! Hopefully, this is not a one-time effort by Tropper, because I look forward to his next work.

Enough reviews already about the plot, so I won't go there.

Plan B is wonderful--entertaining, with lots of action. Jonathan Tropper has the unusual talent of blending action, originality, and inner dialogue that is a rarity among authors.

Tender, funny, emotional, a page turner. Highly recommend!

I was just browsing the store and came across Plan B and all of the reviews and decided I just had to read the book for myself! And I'm really glad I did, because I truly enjoyed the book.
The characters in the story are perhaps not particularly original - but then again, it is refreshing to read a book about people who you might actually know or have something in common with! John Grisham has made a lot of money doing pretty much the same thing!
To those armchair critics (and hey, aren't we all) who complained about this and that, I say to you: Huh? Look, this is not Dickens or Hemmingway - it's just a first novel that makes no pretensions to classical literature. It is just a well told story and amusing read.
My point? If you buy the book and expect an easy going enjoyable story, then you will be very satisfied with Plan B. If you have Great Expectations for a timeless classic, then I advise picking up a copy of Huckleberry Finn!

This book has a great plot device, involving the kidnapping of a movie star by his friends, and the story is moved along by truly witty dialogue between those friends as they deal with all of their fears and worries at turning thirty. Being thirty-two, I related to all of the angst that Ben, the narrator was going through,and the interplay between the friends really reminded me of my own friends.
Tropper has a great ear for dialogue, and a fun, unpretentious style that makes you feel like you're listening to a friend of yours tell you a story. I also echo the sentiment of many of the reviews below, that this book would make a great movie for the Matt Damon/ Ben Affleck set. I look forward to that possibility, as well as more books from Mr. Tropper.

Hollywood should definitely be checking out Plan B. It would make a great movie, which doesn't mean it isn't a great read. I picked this up on a whim and found it to be a funny, touching story about five college friends turning thirty and dealing with the disappointments life has served up. The action is fast-paced and laced with wit, irony, and Generation X pop culture. If you grew up with the Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire and Less Than Zero, then this book will definitely resonate with you. Tropper's narrator is alternately funny and sad, ironic and earnest, occassionally clueless but always honest. This book does not aspire to be "deep" literature, but to be an entertaining and thoughtful account of what it feels like to grow up and realize thst life is not an exact science. Whether you want to be touched, or just laugh out loud, you cannot go wrong with this book.

I bought this book based largely on the reviews I read here. I think most of the reviews were a little too generous. The characters are pretty flat and the plot and dialogue seemed contrived. Most of the "profound" revelations left me rolling my eyes. Tropper is an author I've heard pretty good things about, so maybe these are just first novel problems. It's not that the writing is BAD, its just teetering on the edge of corny I guess. I expected more. It's a decent premise and I'm powering through the last 80 pages here hoping it reaches a fraction of its potential.

I read approximately 3-4 books a week, and when I received the e-mail from Mr. Tropper, the plot seemed so fitting to people in my age group that I took the bait--and WOW! For all of us out there in the age bracket during which we are asking, "What now?" this novel is an absolute must read! Mr. Tropper has one of each in his characters: famous actor, beautiful lawyer, writer, carefree nomad, and hilarious "George Clooney" type doctor, which makes for a fascinating cast of characters. The thoughts and angst that the characters go through hit really close to the bone (I'm 30, so maybe more so for me than others) but all in all, it felt wonderful to know that, even in fiction, there are others out there my age who are disillusioned by what the big 3-0 means and what we thought it would mean. Buy this book! You'll be waiting for the second Mr. Tropper's next book hits the stands!
By the way--Mr. Tropper is to be commended for his ingenious method of marketing his book. It seems to have caught many people's attention!

The rapid-fire dialogue and witty narration alone make this book a worthwhile read. Add to that the fun story-line involving the kidnapping of a movie star and hiding him in small-town USA, five old college chums shacking up to detox their addicted friend, entanglements with the locals and the local police dept., and you have a comical, gripping novel that you can't put down. I was impressed with the witty, yet simple narration, and enjoyed the pop culture references, being only slightly older than the characters involved. This is the type of books that critics generally turn their noses up at for being too mainstream, but it is wonderfully entertaining, and should find a large audience. I look forward to Mr. Troper's future novels.

Plan B is one of those rare books that is funny enough to make you laugh, repeatedly, while still engaging you to the point that you genuinely care about the characters. Ben, the narrator, touchingly conveys the pain and uncertainty of turning thirty with so many dreams still unfulfilled as of yet, and the growing suspicion that the plans you made when you were just starting out might never actually work out. Lately, there have been all of these books that deal with women and their neuroses, like Bridget Jones and The Girls Guide To Hunting and Fishing. It was refreshing to see a male narrator's take on the trials and tribulations of love and adulthood. A riveting storyline, with plenty of romance and wit to boot, Plan B is an unbelievably well written debut and I highly recommend it.

Plan B is the perfect weekend read, 350 fast-paced pages that tell a fun, moving story with dialogue that is so bitingly funny and acurate that I kept repeating it out loud to my wife. Exactly what I look for in a book. I'm a fan of everyone from John Irving to Brett Easton Ellis, and to that list I now add Jon Tropper. I have no doubt we'll be seeing the movie version in the next year or so...
As for the hypocrite below who is mad about spamming: Sabotaging this site with your own grumpy views is a far worse crime. Until you've read the book, you have no business writing here.

A must read for everyone who is feeling the grips of "adulthood" or just enjoys a good book. Mr. Trooper has created himself a name in the literary world. I felt myself drawn into the story along with the characters of the story; Will they be able to save jack from his demons? Will they be able to overcome their own feelings of inadequacy? You'll just have to read it to find out. But it's a book that you'll enjoy reading.

I found out about this book through an email, and decided to check out the site on the store, which led to me actually buying the book, which, in turn, led to me reading it for two days straight without putting it down. The story is gripping, the characters are genuine, and the writing is both stylish and funny as hell. Mr. Tropper clearly has a handle on the issues today's crop of twenty and thirty-somethings face, and he deals with them with humor and sensitivity, and most of all, great writing. I eagerly await his next book.

I wish I could give it higher than 5 stars. I don't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much. I found myself laughing out loud constantly. Then I would find myself crying. Tropper does a wonderful job developing the characters in the story. By the end of the book, you feel as if Ben, Lindsey, Jack, Chuck, and Alison are your own friends. I could definitely see this book as a movie. And I would definitely be the first to go see it. To Jonathan Tropper: what a wonderful book, and I can't wait for another novel

Not a great book, and not a bad book... Very easy read... Book was very predictbale, and not very realistic... Very similar to the 1980's movie "St Elmos Fire"... Overall, it is good, simple read, just dont expect anythign special...

I'm always so happy to discover a new writer I like. Plan B is fast paced, filled with enough wit to keep you chuckling every other page, and insightful observations about aging and friendship. The characters felt quite real, even though some were more fleshed out than others, and I definitely related to what they were going through, even though I'm only 24. No question that this was a satisfying read, and I look forward to Mr. Tropper's next novel.

I'm not just being snooty ... I really didn't like "Plan B". The story's transparent plot is an excuse for the main character to reminisce about how wuuunderful his college girlfriend was and boo-hoo about how she dumped him and he got married on the rebound. He should have saved it for his junior high school-style diary.

There are many fine novice writers and Jonathan Tropper, author of PLAN B, is exceptional among them. This book not only bursts with the talent and exuberance we expect in a successful first novel, it displays a confidence in the handling of material and a maturity of thought uncommon in many experienced authors. Even jaded readers loathe to explore another new novelist will be excited by this work.
Morris Saperstein, JERUSALEM REVIEW OF BOOKS

This was a very good book about a group of thirty year olds when their lives don't turn out they want it to. Ben is a writer who hates his job at Esquire. When they find out their Hollywood friend Jack is doing drugs they turn to a desperate measure to help his friend.

The characters in Plan B are very realistic. I'm glad I am passed the 30 milestone as Tropper does an excellent job at portraying one's anxiety about growing old(er). Entertaining, but nothing ground breaking.

The plot of this story wasn't really clear to me until I read the book. I typically do a lot of research before purchasing (research includes reading reviews, jacket covers, everything in `look inside' feature) and somehow missed what was going on. This, however, was a good thing. I was totally surprised and that helped me enjoy the book even more than if I'd been clued in. All I will say is that the plot is crazy; twists and turns and lots of risk taking and subsequent second guessing. At its core, the book is about five friends from college now in their 30s. Four of them need to come together to help their movie star buddy who has fallen on hard times and drug addiction. Though interventions have their place, that won't be enough for this crew. The story is basically about reuniting with old friends, finding purpose and direction and reprioritizing. The characters are all people you can really get behind (except maybe Chuck whose womanizing exploits serve mostly as comic relief) and root for. The story is fast paced, touching and funny all in turn. This was my second Tropper book and it certainly won't be my last.

I have trouble giving five stars (maybe something I need to explore) and won't give his one five stars simply because some of the characters, relationships, and plot points are a bit boilerplate - no reinventions of the wheel here. I can easily, however, see his books being translated to the big screen - think `entertaining' and you've got it.

This was a very good book about a group of thirty year olds when their lives don't turn out they want it to. Ben is a writer who hates his job at Esquire. When they find out their Hollywood friend Jack is doing drugs they turn to a desperate measure to help his friend.

The characters in Plan B are very realistic. I'm glad I am passed the 30 milestone as Tropper does an excellent job at portraying one's anxiety about growing old(er). Entertaining, but nothing ground breaking.

Mr. Tropper is a talented writer. I think the premise for this book is a little less than original, but it was well written and fun and I am positive it will be marketed for film rights. The casting should be easy; perhaps a few 80's has beens should be considered for the pure irony. At any rate, 'good going' is in order and I'm glad I spent a few hours with this book.

I don't even begin to fit intothis book's demographic, butI'm delighted that I got toread an advance copy.Tropper has created a groupof memorable,multi-dimensional characters, and produced a real page-turner.