This Is Where I Leave You Chapter 3 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Judd and Jen got married when they were twenty-one. As with many newlyweds, their initial passion eventually gave way to monotony—a monotony that was abruptly shattered when Judd walked in on Jen and Wade getting busy on Jen's birthday.
  • So much for happily ever after.
  • Wade is a mash-up between Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, and Dane Cook. Appealing, we know. He hosts a radio show called "Man Up" that Judd produces.
  • Now he's hosting a private party for two with Judd's wife.
  • So Judd just stands there, holding a fully lit birthday cake. He finally takes the cake and—no, we are not kidding--shoves it up Wade's butt, setting his nether-regions aflame. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!
  • Wade leaves and Judd berates Jen. She tells him that the affair has been happening for over a year.
  • Defeated, Judd gets into his car and drives nowhere in particular. He imagines driving to a small town in Maine and starting a brand new life.
  • Instead, he rents out an elderly couple's basement and falls into a deep depression. Yep, that does sound like a recipe for depression.