What readers think of The Leftovers, plus links to write your own review.

I have read many post apocalyptic stories laced with barren landscapes, political decay and human crisis and happily, although unexpectedly, I can note that this is not one of those stories. In fact there is very little reference to these items at all - but enough to frame the story and set an intriguing backdrop. This is a character driven story about the everyday challenges of starting over, albeit starting over in the face of spectacularly peculiar events. It is a story about finding purpose and re-defining perspective and dealing with others as they face the same challenges, often times with startling, sad and unusual results. Not your ordinary post apocalyptic story and so much better because of it!

I found this novel a compelling exploration of how we go on coping (or not) in the face of unfathomable loss. Although the novel is set after millions of people disappear from Earth in the "Sudden Departure," -- a Rapture-like event that is never fully explained -- what Perotta is really writing about is how ordinary people come to terms with loss, loneliness and a world that seems meaningless. He explores many of the same themes as Jonathan Franzen in "Freedom," but with a gentler tone and (I believe) more empathy for his characters. Despite the dramatic event that sets the novel off, this is really a novel of the domestic sphere, where men, women and teens struggle to find meaning and connection in their lives.

Although I enjoyed this novel, I was not fully satisfied with a couple of the storylines where I felt the characters' motivations and actions (Laurie's, in particular) were not fully plausible. But all in all, The Leftovers is a strongly-written portrayal of highly relatable characters finding their way back to connection.

What if -- whoosh! -- with no explanation, millions of us simply vanished? And what if there were no rhyme or reason to WHO disappears (John Mellencamp and J.Lo, Vladmir Putin and the Pope). What happens in the aftermath to those who are leftovers?

No one knows and Tom Perrotta doesn't even speculate. He wisely leaves it to the imagination of the reader. His focus is not on the apocalyptic event but on how one particular family zigzags forward. It's an ambitious theme: how diminished we are when something vital is subtracted from our lives. Maybe a little too ambitious. The grandness of the so-called Rapture is always lurking in the background, making the players who strut and fret their last hours on stage seem rather meaningless. But maybe that is, indeed the point. Still, at the end of the day, I wanted to know MORE about "the end of the day."

To start this review, I want to state that I am a huge Perrotta fan. I wanted to love this book as I have his previous books, but hard as I tried -- this book did not "do it" for me. It wasn't a bad book by any means, but Perrotta has set a high-standard with me due to his word-gymnastics and his pin-sharp wit. This book felt disjointed for my tastes. I enjoyed some of the characters, but was disappointed by the story leap-frogging from one character to the next. I think I wanted to know more about the G.R. members and why they acted as they did. There was an explanation, but I desired more in-depth reasons for their smoking, their wearing white, their following "subjects" around the neighborhood. I would not say that this is a book NOT worth reading -- far from it, but it wasn't Perrotta's best.

It’s the anniversary of the Sudden Departure. Three years before millions of people disappeared in what appeared to be a random event, leaving friends and family to puzzle over and wonder what happened. Things are starting to get back to normal in the town of Mapleton; the townsfolk, led by Mayor Kevin Garvey, are celebrating the first annual Departed Heroes Day of Remembrance and Reflection. We follow the progress of keynote speaker Norah Durst (her family’s sole survivor) and members of the Garvey family (which has fragmented since the event) as they try to rebuild their lives. In this book Tom Perrota follows his usual method of presenting a group of suburban residents with a dilemma that brings out contradictions and more failings than strengths. His characters are flawed humans, not always easy to like; nor are endings always neatly wrapped up. His satire is superb. The theme, (surviving after a cataclysmic event), not the characters, held my attention.

When I read the hype for the book it all sounded great, the author's previous success and a different approach to post apocalypse -- what if you weren't taken to heaven after the Rapture? Unfortunately I felt the author took a canned approach to extreme responses to such an event... mother that abandons her family to join a cult, son that drops out of college to follow a prophet, daughter that drops out of high school to experiment with alcohol, drugs and sex. I believe the story could have been much richer by spending more time developing each character and focusing on how the majority of survivors dealt with the Rapture-like event and knowing they were not chosen. Overall it was a good read not great.

I am a fan of Tom Perrotta so I jumped at the chance to review his latest novel. In fairness, "The Leftovers" continues the same dreary and mildly shocking narrative that is true to his style. He does not hesitate to include uncomfortable yet real moments. If his aim is to irritate the reader with plausible consequences if a so-called "Rapture" should occur, he succeeded. I did not care for the characters and nothing really happened, which mirrors what the characters felt too in a way.

It can be no coincidence that this book appears on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I think it is meant to ponder the way we've coped with our losses in the intervening time. A worthy topic.

The problem is that Perotta rarely gives us the opportunity to stand beside the characters as they explore their new world. Instead, he jump cuts from on character to another as they recollect an event that took place outside our view. When he allows us to actually witness the action, it can be powerful. He just doesn't do it often enough.