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Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Toby Fleishman is a short, Jewish liver doctor with a few hangups. A seemingly sincere family man, he is newly separated from his wife of 15 years when he unexpectedly finds solace in online dating apps. He is overwhelmed with the attention he is getting, basking in the never before received interest from the ladies. Bombarded with sexy photos and texts, Toby tries to stay focused on his patients at work and being a good parent to his young daughter and son.

His ex-wife, Rachel, a successful talent agent, drops the kids off to him earlier than he expects one summer morning.  After quite a while of not answering her phone, she now seems to have disappeared. Toby is left with the question of where she is and whether or not he truly understood his ex-wife to begin with. Fleishman is in Trouble (Random House) by Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a smart, humorous look at marriage and relationships.

Toby’s best friend Libby, a girl he met on a trip to Israel when they were young and single, is back in touch after many years. She meets him for lunch and tries to help solve his current problems (without mentioning her own personal struggles).

Libby is empathetic to Toby, much like the reader is meant to be. In fact, the reader only sees Toby’s marriage and divorce from his point of view. The reader is stuck in Toby’s mind with little intuition. He hadn’t noticed that his ex-wife was having a breakdown. Even his friend Libby has to snap him out of his obsession with dating apps to notice that SHE needs a friend.

This is when I realized I got so sucked in to feeling sorry for Toby, I had been manipulated by the author to see only one side of the Fleishman marriage. And that is one of the many wonderful aspects of the author’s writing. Along with other sub-plots like the one with the patient that has Wilson’s Disease, the author highlights the idea that we may be able to predict our future if we are only observant enough.

Brodesser-Akner is an acute observer and talented journalist known for her profile pieces on famous people such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Bradley Cooper.  She has an incredible talent for sucking the reader in, and then illuminates something that causes a seismic shift in your thinking!

The reader has compassion for each of her characters, even though their flaws are highly evident. Her witty commentary keeps you laughing out loud, just when comic relief is needed.

I really love this heartbreaking and hilarious story of marriage, with valuable insights into how men and women think and communicate.  The NYC upper east side references are pure joy, as my husband and I lived in the Wellesley on 72nd St. and ate at EJ’s in the early 1990s. It was a welcomed walk down memory lane (or 3rd Avenue) for me!  Fleishman is in Trouble is a smart, humorous and accurate look at marriage, midlife, dating and relationships and reminds us that paying attention now can help us to navigate in the future.

Fleishman is in Trouble is available for purchase.

 

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Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Genre: Fiction
Author: Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 9780525510900
Jennifer Blankfein

Jennifer Gans Blankfein is a freelance marketing consultant and book reviewer. She graduated from Lehigh University with a Psychology degree and has a background in advertising. Her experience includes event coordination and fundraising along with editing a weekly, local, small business newsletter. Jennifer loves to talk about books, is an avid reader, and currently writes a book blog, Book Nation by Jen. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two sons and black lab.

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