Tropper speaks to packed book store

Bill San Antonio

Writer Jonathan Tropper said Monday at an appearance at a Port Washington bookstore that he never set out to be a so-called “Jewish writer” – it just sort of worked out that way.

His 2009 New York Times’ bestseller, “This is Where I Leave You,” whose star-studded film adaptation was shot in a Munsey Park cul-de-sac and Great Neck sporting goods store last month, he said, is a good example.

Tropper told the packed house at Dolphin Bookshop that he wrote the Judd Foxman protagonist as he does most of his main characters, making him reach his life’s lowest point after finding his wife in bed with his boss, and sending him even lower, to his father’s 70th birthday party and unavoidable interaction with his estranged siblings. 

But during the writing process, Tropper had trouble keeping the family’s interactions compelling, and the author struggled to, as he said, “keep them in the same room together for more than five minutes.”

His solution was simple: Tropper killed off the Foxman patriarch and made the family Jewish, leaving his children and widow to sit shiva.

The story that emerged became a New York Times bestseller. 

“I haven’t studied it, and I don’t really want to, but it either means every Jew in America bought the book or else it’s just that it became an authentic family story that people related to,” said Tropper, 43. 

Tropper said “This is Where I Leave You” has become his most popular book among fans, as most people who attend his appearances tend to ask about it more than anything else he’s worked on.

“It’s also paid my mortgage for the last few years as well,” Tropper said.

Tropper, an English professor at Manhattanville College, has written six novels and is the co-creator, writer and executive producer of the Cinemax action series “Banshee,” which was picked up in January for a second season.       

Tropper said most of the film rights to his novels have been optioned by production companies, but didn’t expect “This is Where I Leave You” would be made because it has gone through a number of potential stars and directors.

Tropper also wrote the screenplay for “This is Where I Leave You,” which stars Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda and is slated for an October 2014 release.

“When you adapt your own book, you feel as if you already have a road map to the characters and you might as well follow it,” Tropper said. “But movies don’t unfold the way a book does, and your brain just doesn’t always tell you, ‘This is the spot where you’ve got to leave the roadmap and come up with something new.’”

Tropper said the works of Stephen King and Kurt Vonnegut inspired him to become a writer, but identified Richard Russo as his favorite author.

Tropper, who uses his hometown of New Rochelle as the inspiration for many of the suburban settings featured in his works, said he lobbied Warner Bros. location scouts to film “This is Where I Leave You” in Westchester, but added Manhasset had been selected because it had played host to the feature films “The Good Shepherd” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” in addition to the CBS drama series “The Good Wife.”

“I was pushing for Westchester, it would have made my commute a lot easier, but ultimately it wasn’t up to me [to select a filming location],” Tropper said.

Tropper said he is currently at work on the second season of “Banshee” in addition to his next novel.

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