Book Report: The Book of Joe

The Book of Joe
by Jonathan Tropper

From the back cover:

Right after high school, Joe Goffman left sleepy Bush Falls, Connecticut, and never looked back. Fifteen years later, he wrote a novel that savaged everyone in his hometown--then became a national bestseller and a huge hit movie. Of course, he never planned on going home again--until now...
Joe's father's had a stroke, so it's back to Bush Falls for the town's most famous pariah. Within hours of his arrival, Joe's return ignites a maelstrom of reactions: His brother avoids him; former classmates threaten to beat him up; and members of the book club just hurl their copies of Bush Falls at his house. But while Bush Falls may be less than thrilled to see Joe, it's becoming clear that Joe needed to see Bush Falls. As he walks the familiar streets, he revisits the terrible events of his senior year--1986--a year of passion, betrayal, and catastrophe from which he's never fully recovered. But after seventeen years of hiding from it, Joe is finally ready to face his past, and with the help of some old friends, he may actually learn something...if he manages to survive his homecoming.


First sentence:

Just a few scant months after my mother's suicide, I walked into the garage, looking for my baseball glove, and discovered Cindy Posner on her knees, animatedly performing fellatio on my older brother, Brad.