ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO
By: Jonathan Tropper
Read by: John Shea
Produced by: Penguin Audio
Quite certain Jonathan Tropper did not write ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO with my ears in mind. I have said on many occasions that audiobooks allow me to wander into genres and novels I might not otherwise be able to get though if it were a traditional read. ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO is one of those for me.
By the end of disc 1 I was more then ready to abandon and I do not say that lightly. The narration by John Shea had nothing to do with my dislike as I very much enjoyed his take on the lead character Silver. Shea’s narration brought the very dislikeable and frustrating aspects of Silver to life track after track. Although, as great as his gritty voice was for Silver it was less than right for the women main characters in the story: Casey and Denise.
My objection came by way of Silver and his merry band of dysfunctional men friends who managed to screw up their lives. While some would say these men had lost everything yet guys might think they are living a dream. Tropper spends a great deal of time developing these characters because without the listener’s dislike the story would not have had the same result and message.
Silver, a one hit pop wonder, lost everything years ago and has lead a life without much direction or meaning. His ex-wife Denise has raised their child Casey on her own. But everything intersects when his Ivy league bound daughter has an issue she cannot go to her mother with so she seeks out her dad, Silver. And when her dad has a medical emergency Casey does not know where to turn but her soon to be step dad Rich. Rich is a cardiac surgeon that believes he can help the self destructing Silver.
With lives intersecting the stage is set for interesting scenes and conversations between Silver and his ex Denise, Silver’s estranged daughter Casey, his Rabbi father and mother and the soon to be husband of his ex Rich. Silver is facing a serious medical condition that could be fixed by his soon be ex’s husband or maybe he should just call it quits.
Tropper has produced a modern day dysfunctional IT’S A WONDERGUL LIFE. So I take my hat off to Tropper for the feelings he elicits and for the questions ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO sends whirling through your mind during its duration and well after.
