Tale of the unexpected

When things seem to be going well, we tend to stop and wonder whether it will all last. Jonathan Tropper's Everything Changes explores this real possibility that our lives, often taken for granted, may suddenly take a turn towards an unexpected course for which we are unprepared.

Somehow, it's the little things which set the wheels in motion. The book starts with what seems to be a cataclysmic opening: "The night before everything changes, an earthquake jolts me out of my sleep...". However, this turns out to be a pretext for the unfolding of events which occur when the main character, Zachary King, is shaken out of his sleep. It is King who takes the reader on an intimate tour of his life, weaving his feelings, hopes and dreams into an honest account of what led him to lead the life he has and how things began to spiral out of control.

King truly seems to be the king of his castle, living a rent-free life in a Manhattan apartment courtesy of his millionaire friend, Jed, who readily lends him his Lexus convertible whenever Zach asks. We already hate him, don't we? Factor in the fact that he's got a well-paid job and a loving, perfect girlfriend and most male readers will be practically seething. Indeed, Mr Tropper writes with great sensitivity towards men's interests and their way of thinking, but does it sufficiently well so as to create an adequate balance and avoid putting off female readers. Zach's attitude and tone are appropriately realistic but not so shallow to make this a laddish book. On the contrary, the book can be defined as a rite of passage from laddishness to maturity; and the protagonist an anti-hero who starts off looking the part of a hero but not feeling it.

Zach's ennui grows alongside his increasing sense of self-doubt when he questions his happiness. Tiny little uncertainties gnaw at his mind. The shock of the real quake pales when compared to the dream from which he was rudely shaken: that of sleeping with his best friend's widow, Tamara, rather than with his own fiancée, Hope. Zach's covetousness for Tamara disturbs him because of all the implications involved.

At the start of the novel, he's already had the feeling for a while now, but feels that he cannot act upon it because of his strong loyalties to his friend, Rael, who had died in a tragic car crash the year before; while his fidelity towards Hope also comes into play.

This is the dominant plot in the novel, spiralling out feelings of guilt which in turn only serve to exacerbate Zach's good judgement when it comes to dealing with other areas in his life, from health and the very terrifying possibility of prostate cancer, to work concerns and family relationships.

Human relationships and how they all entwine together form the underlying theme of Everything Changes. On the same day as the quake, Norm, Zach's good-for nothing, adulterous father erupts into his life after a 20-year absence and proceeds to rub every member of his family the wrong way in his attempts to make amends.

Norm manages to get Zach, his angst-ridden younger brother, Matt, a musician whose rock hasn't quite started rolling yet, and to a lesser extent, Jed, into a couple of tight, often hilarious, fixes, including chasing Zach's urologist on a golf course and a spectacular brawl at Zach's disastrous engagement party. An entire series of events spanning several months lead Zach to realise that everything does change: you can fall out of love, become disillusioned with your comfortable life, learn to empathise with an estranged relative, make peace with a deceased friend and hate your job. In the long run, loss of hope (Mr Tropper's choice of the name for Zach's fiancée, seems particularly appropriate) doesn't mean that it won't resurface in a completely different form later on and encourages us to take whatever life throws at us.

This book is about trying to fit in and finding purpose in life. To some extent, the young men in the book all experience what has recently been termed as "a quarter-life crisis" - what do you do when you've finished your studies and sown your wild oats? As a 20-something myself, this book has had me nodding in agreement at various different stages. Poignant and funny, Everything Changes may not be an elating read but it opens a window onto someone else's pigeon, so we can stop stressing about ours. At least until we finish drinking our half-empty cup of tea.

• Mr Delicata is a teacher and freelance writer, with a Master's degree in English Literature.

• A review copy of this title was supplied by Allied Publications.