The Leftovers

Here's an especially compelling idea for a book: A Rapture-like event occurs and millions of people disappear from the earth. What happens to those who are left behind, the leftovers? And what were the stories of those who disappeared?

This is the basic plot behind Tom Perrotta's book, The Leftovers.

Have you ever read a book like Arthur Hailey's Airport, with an enormous cast of characters and lots of action? A book that feels like a strange combination of a soap opera and an action movie. That's what The Leftovers reminded me of. It's full of women running around on their men and men running around on their women, and men double-crossing other men, and women ranting about other women. There is also this odd angst and anomie that hangs over the characters, a sense of what-do-we-do-now, that has characters abandoning their spouses and leaving home to join strange cults.

Thank you to the publisher who provided this copy for review.