Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

read excerpt* *Different edition

The Leftovers

3.37 of 5 stars 3.37 · rating details · 13,678 ratings · 2,495 reviews

A New York Times Notable Book for 2011 A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book for 2011One of NPR’s 10 Best Novels of 2011 What if—whoosh, right now, with no explanation—a number of us simply vanished? Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on, one foot in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down?

That’s what the bewildered citizens of Mapl...more

Kindle Edition, 366 pages

Published August 31st 2011 by St. Martin's Press (first published August 30th 2011)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 19, 2012 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

Tom Perotta’s newest book would not be a typical choice for me. I saw the movie "Little Children" starring Kate Winslet, so I was curious when this book came out. The fact that life after The Rapture was central to the story made me that much more curious. I was not disappointed.

In The Leftovers, Tom Perotta explores what would happen if The Rapture actually took place. The book opens just a short time after millions of people have just disappeared from the earth. Perotta’s characters show a var...more

20 likes · like · see review

Nov 19, 2011 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book takes on some weighty issues but leavened with comic twists. The author plays with issues I've dealing with as I get older; my life is increasingly influenced by absences, by who and what I have lost. I remember the people who have disappeared from my life or roads not taken. Yet I also mistrust my memories of events; what was real and what were simply stories that I told myself? These are my 2 am musings.

The novel also explores how people deal with losses and what things do they tell...more

12 likes · like · see review

Oct 17, 2011 Jodie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What a massive premise to try and pull off. A rapture like event, where millions of people all over the planet simply evaporate. It can't be the rapture though, at least not the skewed Christian version of it, because a lot of Christians are left behind - devastated that their version of God has forsaken them, and a lot of people from varying faiths, including atheists and a few random celebrities have gone. There are some good character ideas in this book. I really liked how the minister loses...more

16 likes · like · see review

May 09, 2012 James Thane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What if there suddenly were a "Rapture" or something like it, where millions of people around the world disappeared in an instant, vaporized into nothingness? How would those left behind cope with such an amazing and inexplicable development?

Such is the premise of Tom Perrotta's The Leftovers, which focuses on the small town of Mapleton and on the family of the newly-elected mayor, Kevin Garvey. Everyone in town has been affected by the event and large numbers of people have been traumatized, th...more

24 likes · like · see review

Nov 23, 2011 Mike rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: family, moral-issues, religion, future

Let me start with the good: I liked that the Rapture occurred (or at least that is what it appears to be), but everyone pretty much goes about their daily lives, trying to find love, friendship, job, etc.

Now the bad: the whole "Rapture" background is dispensable. It could've been anything. The major plot lines involve a cult and a man who lost his wife, which could be set right now. So, if you're looking for a cool religious/Sci-fi spin, you'll be somewhat disappointed. It's actually more like a...more

6 likes · like · see review

Sep 08, 2011 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

40 likes · like · see review

Jun 28, 2011 Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is quite the literary year for ordinary families becoming enmeshed in extraordinary, indeed, catastrophic, situations. Erik Larson, in The Garden of the Beast, portrays an all-American family at the cusp of the horrendous Hitler years. And now Tom Perrotta one-ups him by introducing the Garveys…a suburban family who was left behind in the aftermath of a Rapture-like event.

To his credit, Tom Perrotta drinks no Kool-aid. Before the event occurs, one character says this about the Rapture: “It...more This is quite the literary year for ordinary families becoming enmeshed in extraordinary, indeed, catastrophic, situations. Erik Larson, in The Garden of the Beast, portrays an all-American family at the cusp of the horrendous Hitler years. And now Tom Perrotta one-ups him by introducing the Garveys…a suburban family who was left behind in the aftermath of a Rapture-like event.

To his credit, Tom Perrotta drinks no Kool-aid. Before the event occurs, one character says this about the Rapture: “It felt like religious kitsch, as tacky as a black velvet painting, the kind of fantasy that appealed to people who ate too much fried food, spanked their kids, and had no problem with the theory that their loving God invented AIDS to punish the gays.” Yet suddenly – whoosh! – millions of people simply vanish, including John Mellencamp and J.Lo, Shaq and Adam Sandler Miss Texas and Greta Van Susteren, Vladmir Putin and the Pope. There seems to rhyme or reason as to who disappears. What has happened?

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 “big event”, but rather how those who remain find the will to survive afterward. Some of them – Laurie Garvey, the mother, for example – join Guilty Remnant, a ragtag group that dress in white, continually smoke cancer sticks, and “stand before you as living reminders of God’s awesome power.” Others follow a self-proclaimed messiah, Holy Wayne, who promises to “take on their pain.”

And the majority just struggles by – trying to find some meaning in college classes, council meetings, community dances. They try to move forward while grieving the departed and getting by in a world where consumerism, politics, conventional religion, and mindless entertainment have lost their meaning.

Kevin Garvey – the father and also the mayor – thinks, “He’d seen this process before: It didn’t matter what happened in the world – genocidal wars, natural disasters, unspeakable crimes, mass disappearances, whatever – eventually people got tired of brooding about it. Time moved on, seasons changed, individuals withdrew into their private lives, turned their faces toward the sun. On balance, it was a good thing.”

It’s an ambitious theme that Tom Perrotta takes on – how diminished we are when something vital is being subtracted from our lives, but how we somehow put one foot in front of the other. Perhaps a little too ambitious. The grandness of the apocalyptic event is always lurking in the background, making the players who strut and fret their last hours on stage seem rather ordinary. It seemed to me that the random mystery of a devastating event would have created a universal clamor to find out why; otherwise, how to go on? Tom Perrotta is an engaging writer but at the end of the day, I need to know more about “the end of the day.”

(less)

27 likes · like · see review

Dec 14, 2012 Karen Hansen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have been eagerly anticipating Tom Perrota’s latest novel, “The Leftovers” for the last couple of years. If I could have only picked on book to read this year, this would have been it. He is one of my favorite authors and although this might not go down as my favorite Perrota novel, it still rates five stars in my book. Perrota is just a fantastic writer and all of his books are a treasure.

Perrota writes fearlessly about aspects of human nature that most people are uncomfortable admitting. Thi...more I have been eagerly anticipating Tom Perrota’s latest novel, “The Leftovers” for the last couple of years. If I could have only picked on book to read this year, this would have been it. He is one of my favorite authors and although this might not go down as my favorite Perrota novel, it still rates five stars in my book. Perrota is just a fantastic writer and all of his books are a treasure.

Perrota writes fearlessly about aspects of human nature that most people are uncomfortable admitting. This story is about the people left behind on earth after the rapture (or rapture like event that is never actually defined). The characters all deal with the event in unique ways, but have a common thread of all having a solitary experience. The realization being that human life is really a solo adventure, as you never know when people might come and go. People only pass through the lives of others as they are living their own lives. I think this is a point that doesn’t really resonate with people until they experience a great loss, much like the characters in this story.

Along the same lines, none of the characters are victims, they are all very much in control of their own choices. I love how Perrota writes characters with deep flaws, but they are never the victims of their circumstances, they are characters who make their own choices. Perrota writes with a detached quality that lets the reader create their own impressions, rather than telling us what to think about a character. This aspect of his writing is what I admire the most. He is able to let go and trust that the reader will “get it.”

I felt like the most poignant moment in the story was Nora’s letter to Kevin, when she finally explains her Rapture experience. It was an example of how sometimes things that seem so mundane actually become the most important turning point in your life. Also, how loss/grief/transitions are not all experienced in the same way and often times it can propel people into the next phase of their life. Change is often scary, but not always a negative thing.

http://www.alwayspackedforadventure.com
(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 29, 2013 Alias Pending rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

SHORT REVIEW: ~~What Conan the Barbarian was to High Fantasy, The Leftovers is to Mid-Life Crisis Fantasy.~~ No, that's too kind.

SHORT REVIEW #2: A book so OK it hurts.

ANOTHER SHORTY: I liked this better the first time, when it was called American Beauty.

LONG REVIEW: Reading this book was like heading down a playground slide made of glass. It starts off fun, but soon the smooth, featureless texture is burning your skin and all you can see is the cold, rocky ground waiting for you at the end. And the...more

3 likes · like · see review

Sep 22, 2011 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

This one comes from the author of Election and Little Children. Yeah, those movies you sort of forgot about. After listening to an NPR interview with Perrotta, I ran out and bought the book despite it being hardcover. He came off so intelligent and likeable on the radio, and his ideas were so provoking, I couldn't help being drawn to the book. While sometimes I found his writing a bit colloquial, I really enjoyed this novel and hated to see it end. The book takes place after a Rapture-like event...more

16 likes · like · see review

Sep 14, 2011 Shauna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I won this on a First Reads Giveaway. I liked this book. The characters were strong and real. Each had good qualities and poor qualities, which I love in a book. You will see some strong development in each character as the novel moves on. I have a hard time when you get really evil characters and super perfect protaganists. What was most interesting was that this was an apocolyptic book, but rather than have some catastophe like war, the earth burning, the US getting bombed, etc. you get the di...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 03, 2011 Kristin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book has a very interesting premise. A million people vanish off the earth in what is deemed a "Rapture like" event. The world is torn. Christians decide it couldn't have been the true Rapture because all sorts of people disappeared, not just God fearing Christian types. This book takes place three years after the event when people are trying to return to their normal lives. "The Leftovers" primarily highlights a family of four; however, there are other characters who are also explored in d...more

7 likes · like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Stephanie (The Night Bookmobile) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, love-of-prose, reviewed

I was very impressed by Perrotta's writing. When he was on, he was really on, and when he was off it was all just kind of boring. One part that stuck out to me was Norah's letter, which I thought really tied in to the theme of the book, which was really my favorite part of the whole thing. People were there and then they were gone. This doesn't mean they were good people. This doesn't mean that everyone was happy and then whoosh the world changed. I thought Perrotta's dystopian novel was perhaps...more

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 21, 2012 J.N. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, own

This is a book that I won from the Goodreads first-reads program. First of all, I would like to thank both Goodreads and Joseph Goldschein for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

The Leftovers was a very intriguing read. The story starts out with random people vanishing all other the earth. Some are convinced that its the Rapture, only it's puzzling because many non-Christians vanished and many Christians were "left behind." The book mainly focuses on how one family and their loved...more This is a book that I won from the Goodreads first-reads program. First of all, I would like to thank both Goodreads and Joseph Goldschein for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

The Leftovers was a very intriguing read. The story starts out with random people vanishing all other the earth. Some are convinced that its the Rapture, only it's puzzling because many non-Christians vanished and many Christians were "left behind." The book mainly focuses on how one family and their loved ones deal with the disappearances three years later.

The family the book centers around was left intact, but the daughter's best friend was a victim of the mass disappearance. This girl's disappearance not only affects the daughter, but the entire family. The mother, Laurie, abandons the family and joins a cult who dresses in white, smokes cigarettes, take a vow of silence, and follow people around until the "end days" arrive. The husband, Kevin, ends up becoming the town's mayor and struggles with the loss of his wife, and later his son. He also has to deal with raising their teenage daughter and her friend all on his own.

The son, Tom, returns to college but ends up joining a cult being led by a so-called Holy man with many underage spiritual brides. The daughter shaves her head, befriends a rowdy girl named Aimee who becomes her and her father's housemate, and starts failing her classes while yearning for her mother.

I really thought the cults in this book were interesting and somewhat realistic. The characters were also very realistic and even though there was a huge cast of them, they were all different. I think I enjoyed Jill and Kevin the best. I was sympathetic toward Laurie at times, but she also came off as being selfish for abandoning her family. I also liked Kevin's love interest but ended up becoming disappointed with her at the end.

I was going to give this book 3.5 stars until the end. I'm not sure I quite understand the end. It didn't seemed wrapped up at all, and my reaction at finishing the last page was this: HUH? Is that it?

Overall this was well written with an interesting plot, setting, and characters. There were many scenes I enjoyed. However, I would have liked this book better if the ending had been wrapped up a bit better (unless I'm just not GETTING it) and I would have liked to see more explanation concerning the shootings and the cult. I would definitely recommend it because it was a very good read.

I was not paid to write this review. The opinions stated are merely my own.

Also on my blog at: http://jncahill.wordpress.com/2012/08...(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book gets three stars just for the concept. Brilliant idea-- what if the Rapture (or "Sudden Departure," as it’s referred to in the book) actually happened? What would happen to the people who were left behind?

In some ways, Tom Perrotta takes this idea to really fascinating places. He explores the perspective of religious people who were left behind, how a mother deals with life after her husband and two young children are among the departed, how a small town deals with moving forward. How...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 11, 2011 Dara Jackson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First off I won this on a First Reads Giveaway as an Advanced Reader's issue. I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded interesting: a Rapture-like occurrence and how the people left behind cope. I've never read anything of Mr. Perrotta's before, and chances are good that I will not be reading anything else of his if they are all like this one. Actually two stars may be generous, but I liked the concept, just not the book.

It was not what I was expecting, which in itself is not a bad...more

10 likes · like · see review

Mar 25, 2012 John Wiswell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though promoted as a novel about The Rapture or a Rapture-like event, fifty pages in you realize The Leftovers isn’t. Tom Perrotta’s novel is about human reactions to tragedy. We don’t know why millions of people disappeared, can’t recognize a methodology or pattern to the mass disappearances, and spend none of the book pursuing answers. Perrotta tells us multiple times that no one can figure it out. Sorry, world: you just lose, and now your citizens deal with it.

We go to inspirational speeches,...more Though promoted as a novel about The Rapture or a Rapture-like event, fifty pages in you realize The Leftovers isn’t. Tom Perrotta’s novel is about human reactions to tragedy. We don’t know why millions of people disappeared, can’t recognize a methodology or pattern to the mass disappearances, and spend none of the book pursuing answers. Perrotta tells us multiple times that no one can figure it out. Sorry, world: you just lose, and now your citizens deal with it.

We go to inspirational speeches, grief counseling and A.A. We hit the bottle, seek out any company we can get, and watch obscene amounts of talk-TV. We get a mother walking fugally through her empty house and writing a journal to the son who no longer exists. Marriages break up and cities tremble.

We follow a handful of people trying to make sense of their own lives in the wake of civilization’s shake-up. It’s not quite an apocalypse (The Rapture wouldn’t be, right?), but things can’t quite go back to being the same. Faithful priests left behind seek to comfort others while questioning what they did wrong; parents grieve for children whose bodies aren’t even left to bury; characters hit the road, or form sexually-liberated support groups, or simply linger. This book doesn’t push the plot forward with every page. It shouldn’t, and it exposes how shortsighted that rule is, for a book about not knowing what to do must necessarily revel in stalling out.

The analogs to real life are refreshingly distinct. When the event is largely called “October 14th,” it’s hard not to think “9/11.” Perrotta eventually tackles the parallels in exposition, yet the lack of a single image or video to capture what happened, and the lack of villains to blame, turn October 14th and its “Sudden Departure” into something ultimately far more frustrating. It’s equal parts existential crisis and tragedy.

The religious horror spawns an analog of the Westboro Baptist Church, the “Guilty Remnant,” a cult of people who swear vows of silence and mill around public areas to remind everyone what happened. Where it could be generic anti-Westboro fiction, Perrotta instead depicts them as some of the saddest people, and introduces the group through the lens of a husband whose wife is in that hushed crowd, having seemingly shed her gross depression for this zeal. That she’s lost so much weight, has resumed smoking and has the vigor from earlier in her life presents a more dynamic portrait of a human being than any fiction that directly tackles Westboro-like groups, and frankly, presents more dimensionality than the Westboro protestors themselves.

Religion gets its stage time, as it ought to in a book using a Rapture-gimmick. Yet we use an interesting lens to see inside the fundamentalist cult: a mother who’s lost her children joins as much out of malaise as the persistence of the priest. When she becomes a Watcher, designated to essentially stalk people of suspected high-sinfulness, she pursues it for gossipy entertainment, is often bored or uneasy, and has mundane thoughts like craving chocolate or to avoid the smoking the cult insists upon. We get the typical application of religion-as-coping-mechanism, but also see it as more nuanced, in just how an individual could cope through ritual and dogma, and how in some ways it simply fails. We also see how it makes our regular world seem strange; there’s a particular double-edged humor to her shock that a Safeway has four shelves devoted to barbecue sauce.

The Leftovers features an increasingly popular form of loose narrative. You’re seldom brought into the moment; chapters open with a recap of recent events, and tend to progress by recapping what happened next, and next, and so-on, focusing in on a few conversations or particular events for a page or less. This makes the bulk of the book expository. I like the style; it worked in ancient myths, in formative histories, and still works when we tell each other about our days. Perrotta makes it work by keeping most of his exposition novel, glossing over the details we can guess. The beginning is particularly strong, as recapping the October 14th tragedy feels not just valid, but a little like newscasting reportage. Yet for a book that follows specific characters over long journeys of self-discovery, there are readers who will want it to be more focused on what they actually did, and to be brought into the moment page after page.

Only after the fact did I learn this was labeled the “comic novel.” I’m still uneasy with this label, and don’t wholly comprehend what it’s supposed to mean. The Leftovers, like virtually all “comic novels” I’ve read, isn’t particularly funny and never made me laugh, but I don’t know if that’s what critics intend by the label. It has its brightness, and there are some questionable things, but is a cult smoking because they acknowledge their lives are finite really comical? It could be played that way. Perrotta doesn’t seem to play it up for humor. Perhaps that’s the difference between the old literary establishment and the new one; comedy, and Twain, and Swift, and the art of actually being funny may be unfashionable. I hold none of this against Perrotta, who delivered a consummate job on his novel. In interviews he’s even conceded that this was originally a more humorous project than it became as he wrote it. Rather than a slight against the author, it’s simply a curiosity with publishers and critics.

(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Sep 22, 2011 Miquela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What is life like after the rapture? Of course I am interested since it is unlikely I will make the cut! And in this fictional interpretation of the the Rapture you never can be too sure. 1M people (of all faiths and none) disappear from the world. What's left is confused believers, grieving loved ones and fascinating cults (aren't they all?). The story is about ordinary people dealing with an extraordinary event. And the end was divine...no pun intended!

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 01, 2012 Teresa Lukey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars, fiction, lol, must-share-with-friends, what-if

Another book I have waited entirely too long to review. I did find the premise entertaining and it fit nicely in to my "rapture-box". I had a close friend when I was younger that use to go on and on about the rapture and end times. He was so fearful of this time and insisted that you had to be a christian to be chosen.

I just couldn't bring myself to believe that only christian would be chosen, since the most wonderful people I know are either Hindu or Buddhist. I always thought it was about som...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 13, 2011 Talia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction

After a rapture-esque event occurs, making various people disappear from the face of the earth, the remaining people are left behind to carry on with their lives. This book follows the Garvey family: Kevin, the mayor of a small town, Laurie, who joins a cult whose members take a vow of silence and smoke cigarettes, Tom, who follows a religious zealot and is in charge of babysitting his fourth wife, and teenage Jill, who wanders around aimlessly trying to figure out what to do with herself.

This b...more

1 like · like · see review

May 14, 2013 Ashlee Cooper rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Spoiler alert: The only good leftovers around here is that piece of pie in your fridge. I was so excited to pick up this book and quickly recommended to my book club. It promised a juicy amount of surrealism/science fiction in weird small town America I'm drawn to. I was instantly hooked with "the twilight zone episode you never saw." Unfortunately, that all "disappears" within the first few chapters. Leftovers quickly turns into what felt like a completely different book never delving into any...more

like · see review

Apr 23, 2013 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, loooooonnnnng, nother-book-group-book, boring-as-being-alive

I laughed! I cried! I dreamed dreams and saw visions!

Oh wait, no I didn't.

I enjoyed it briefly. Then I got to halfway and started wondering if it were going to go anyplace. Then I got farther and started wondering if it were ever, ever going to go anyplace. Then I wondered if it were going to end. Then I saw it was going to end, and I wondered if it were going to have a climax. Then, like a dull night at home, it didn’t.

If this book were food, it would be carob. Carob chip cookies. Great sell...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Steven Pilling rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like Tom Perrotta , loved Election and this is further proof that he is a great writer.

The book i read carried the legend like an american Nick Hornby which i can see but if i was Perrotta i might be tempted to sue.

The novel is about the after effects of a rapture where people are taken up to heaven and how everyone else copes.

Their is some very broad comedy , some good characterisation and some less developed characters, Perrotta has some sharp ideas like the constant smokers who stand as...more

like · see review

Apr 03, 2013 Anthony Lord rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Summary
The Leftovers, a novel written by Tom Perrotta, an American author and screenwriter best known for his novels Election and Little Children, is about a small-town American family from Mapleton, the Garvey’s, caught in the somber aftermath of a strange and disturbing event known as the Sudden Departure in which a number of human beings across the planet suddenly vanished. Some religious residents have managed to perceive it as the Rapture. The book deals with emotions encountered in the...more A Summary
The Leftovers, a novel written by Tom Perrotta, an American author and screenwriter best known for his novels Election and Little Children, is about a small-town American family from Mapleton, the Garvey’s, caught in the somber aftermath of a strange and disturbing event known as the Sudden Departure in which a number of human beings across the planet suddenly vanished. Some religious residents have managed to perceive it as the Rapture. The book deals with emotions encountered in the wake of tragedy of loss, the difficulty in recovering, and the heartache of moving on. The Garvey’s have fallen apart since October 14, the day of the Sudden Departure. Laurie, wife of Kevin Garvey and mother of Tom and Jill Garvey, has abandoned her family and joined the Guilty Remnant, a cult born in Mapleton which requires its members to take a vow of silence. Tom has dropped out of college to pursue a self-proclaimed prophet named Holy Wayne leaving Kevin alone with Jill, a high school senior, who is failing almost every single one of her classes. Kevin is the mayor of Mapleton and is distracted by flourishing relationships with other women.
The Review
I loved The Leftovers. I bought it along with a number of other books from Vons for about 2.50 a pop. Some kind of sale they were having, totally worth it. I picked up this book Saturday morning and before I knew it it was Sunday morning and I had burned through about half of the book. I continued reading it that day, skipping breakfast and lunch, reading outside on the lush green grass since the day was nice and hot with a cool breeze from the east. This book is easy to read, and hard to put down. It’s written simply, straight to the point, reminiscent of Steinbeck. The book managed to carry out a somber tone throughout, the kind you feel when a not-really-all-that-close-but-close-enough-to-feel-something relative passes away and you’re dealing with everyone else dealing with the loss. Which makes sense since the Garvey’s never actually lost someone in the Sudden Departure. Jill may be counted as an exception, but even she digresses that she wasn’t actually there to witness it. They constantly deal with other families and their neighbors who have lost someone dear to them in this bizarre event. Now even though the book did manage to evoke my emotions, keep my attention, and entertain me throughout the entire 355 pages, I did give it 4/5 stars. The thing is his style. It’s very plain which does make it easy to read, but it gets a bit boring after a while. It’s nothing huge, though. The emotions this book makes you experience well makes up for this minor setback. I would definitely recommend it to people who enjoy slice-of-life type novels. Even though this book is based on something as outlandish as the Rapture, it still manages to keep that slice-of-life magic.The Leftovers (less)

like · see review

Mar 30, 2013 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

One day, millions of people just up and disappear at the same time. They never come back. It's not the Rapture, but it's something like it. What happens to the people left behind?

That is the topic of exploration in this book. I kind of expected it to be about the mystery of it all. I suppose that would be my reaction. I have a bit of a fascination with people who go missing. I always want to know what happened to them, how they could just disappear into thin air. It drives me crazy that there ar...more

like · see review

Mar 16, 2013 Carol rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this up at a bargain table at Safeway. Maybe that should have told me something. But I only forked over six bucks for the hardback so thought it was worth the gamble. The premise seemed promising. With no explanation, suddenly random people from all over the world just vanished.

Some thought it was the biblical prophesy of the Rapture. and formed cults such as the Guilty Remnant, whose members take a vow of silence and feel their duty is to keep people from forgetting the Sudden Departu...more

like · see review

Feb 15, 2013 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Rapture-style event takes place and millions of people around the world disappear. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to who was taken and those who remain, the leftovers if you will, are baffled.

The novel focuses mainly on one suburban family’s reaction to the event in the years that follow the occurrence. The husband and wife, Kevin and Laurie, have vastly different reactions. She joins a group of fanatics called the Guilty Remnant, convinced they must abandon their lives and take a vow o...more A Rapture-style event takes place and millions of people around the world disappear. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to who was taken and those who remain, the leftovers if you will, are baffled.

The novel focuses mainly on one suburban family’s reaction to the event in the years that follow the occurrence. The husband and wife, Kevin and Laurie, have vastly different reactions. She joins a group of fanatics called the Guilty Remnant, convinced they must abandon their lives and take a vow of silence in order to remind people about what happened. Kevin goes in the opposite direction, embracing the community and running for the office of town mayor.

Their college-age son Tom searches for meaning and instead finds the “Healing Hug Movement” led by the charismatic Holy Wayne. Lost in the mix is Jill, their daughter who has just started high school. After losing her friend Jen in the event, she is expected to grieve, but instead finds herself wanting to embrace life. A lack of parental guidance and the bad influence of a new friend leave her feeling empty. She is searching for love and acceptance in the wrong places.

Perrotta has a gift for making extreme circumstances seem relatable. In this case, the rapture serves mainly as a device to allow the readers to dive into a fascinating character study of the effects of grief and shock on people. Everyone has lost someone, even those who are only missing celebrities. This shared grief both unites and divides people. It has created a world filled with lonely individuals, few of which know how to initiate new meaningful connections.

One of the most interesting characters is Nora. She lives in the same town and lost both of her kids and her husband on that fateful day. Unlike some of the other characters, she seems unable to move forward, trapped by her grief and guilt, despite the fact that her life was not the perfect picture others thought it to be.

For me the ending was a letdown. The story just seemed to peter out and that really affected my overall impression of the book. I was just expecting something more and instead it just wrapped up quickly and ended.

BOTTOM LINE: The book might be about an unexplained rapture, but really it’s about human nature, relationships and interactions. The rapture is just used to bring those things into a sharper focus, highlighting the loneliness of our world. It was surprisingly hard to put down. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, hence the lower rating, but still an interesting character study.

“… the gratitude that spreads through your body when a burden gets lifted, and the sense of homecoming that follows, when you suddenly remember what it feels like to be yourself.” (less)

like · see review

Feb 09, 2013 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

See this review on 1776books.net...
http://1776books.blogspot.com/2011/10...

Tom Perrotta is the king of novels about suburbia. He is probably best known for Election, on which the movie starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon was based. In The Leftovers, Perrotta brings us yet another experience in suburbia, this time of the biblical variety.

People are going about their business on an ordinary day. Suddenly, many people just disappear in what most believe was the Rapture. However, the pe...more

like · see review

Feb 05, 2013 Ilona rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, fiction-general

A "Rapture-like event" has millions of people (from all faiths and persuasions) vanished in a single moment. What happens to the ones left behind?

In this gripping book, Tom Perrotta explores the responses of the survivors -- the odd cults that arise, the social disconnect, and, through the eyes of half a dozen key players, the personal fallout.

I found it gripping, compelling, unutterably tragic ... but also dissatisfying. Yes, people are -- society is -- traumatized. Yes, many will respond to th...more

like · see review

Jan 31, 2013 Kia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-picks

I really wanted to like this book. When I began, I couldn't stop reading it. One of those "I'm at school for five minutes and have to bring it along" titles. I think it suffers on a few levels:

(1) Religion. While he spends a considerable amount of effort pointing toward the power and danger of organized religion and translates them only into cult profiles, he doesn't really address the prediction/notion of The Rapture. I have no problem with an alternate point of view - but make your point. The...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Tutor.com : Tutor.com Reads: The Leftovers	1	1	Aug 30, 2012 12:57pm

combine
Other Editions (18)

More editions...

Genres

Book Club

113 users

Fantasy

50 users

Science Fiction

47 users

Adult Fiction

45 users

Science Fiction > Dystopia

42 users

Contemporary

33 users

Adult

32 users

Literary Fiction

26 users

Religion

25 users

Apocalyptic > Post Apocalyptic

21 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta (born August 13, 1961) is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels Election (1998) and Little Children (2004), both of which were made into critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-nominated films. Perrotta co-wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film version of Little Children with Todd Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay...more

More about Tom Perrotta...

Books by Tom Perrotta

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Leftovers

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Leftovers

“There's not some finite amount of pain inside us. Our bodies and minds just keep manufacturing more of it. (67)” — 11 people liked it

“Jill felt an emptiness open inside of her as she lifted her arm, a sense that something vital was being subtracted from her life. It was always like that when somebody you cared about went away, even when you knew it was inevitable, and it probably wasn't your fault. (341)” — 9 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Leftovers
avg rating	preview: The Leftovers Goodreads rating: 3.37 (13678 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11224686-the-leftovers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327943272l/11224686.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11224686-the-leftovers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta[/url]

The Leftovers

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website