Customer Reviews

Behind Everyman: A Novel for Guys and the Women Who Rescue Them

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You will pick up this book at a library book sale where trade paperbacks are two for seventy-five cents. You will stick it in your bag on your way to a meeting in Oregon and start it when you finish the book your brought along. You will discover that it is written in an unusual case, and wonder if it is right to call it second person imperative. You will laugh out loud for the first time on about page seven, even though you are alone in your hotel room.

You will enjoy the unusual way it is written and feel tension after the first chapter as to whether it is going to switch over to conventional narrative. You will be relieved to know it is not. You will start to wonder about the unnamed protagonist, and wonder if he is going to be likable enough to sustain the novel. Then you will see him as Sonja, the girl he meets through an unusual internat connection, begins to fall in love with him and you will realize there is more to him than you thought.

You will learn that Sonja suffers from Epstein-Barr Syndrome and you will try to remember what it is. You will remember that Janice Soprano claimed to suffer from it and that it made her tired all the time. You will like Sonja a lot more than you like Janice. You will fall in love with her along with the protagonist.

You will not like the ending he gives to his screenplay.

You will start to worry about Sonja's unexplained absences and her distance after the protagonist's trip to LA to sell his screenplay. You will be fooled when Sonja answers the question of whether she is seeing someone on the sly. You will laugh when you discover what she really meant and also saddened at what it does to their relationship. You will have been thinking of Woody Allen's line about relationships and sharks and will laugh when it is used in the book. You will also nod sagely at how apt it feels.

You will find the ending extremely moving. You will not think about snowflakes the same way ever again. You will be humming Sympathy for the Devil. You will await the author's next book eagerly.

David Israel's smashing novel is packed with rye humor and totally convincing characters. Written in the second person--no mean feat that--we follow a young, unnamed New York guy's

adventures--'Everyman'if you like -- as he screws up a great deal of the time with his dating and choice of careers.

The story is packed with rye humor, yet is often poignant, and you can't help routing for Israel's unnamed protagonist as the guy anxiously attempts, through this stylistically fast-paced novel, to sort his head out from his heart. He's a love.

One of the many pleasures in David Israel's novel is his ability to economically and completely capture his characters on the page. Particularly, Sonja with her dry, outrageous sense of humor. She's a love, too!

EVERYMAN IS A GREAT READ. BUY THE NOVEL!

Maureen Connell(author of MARY LACEY and

Writers' Extension instructor at UCLA)

I just finished reading this book last night. The first thing I have to say is that I am sorry it is over. I wanted to keep reading, but once I read through all the acknowledgements and even the blurb about the type I realized the only thing left was the back cover. I gave that one more read and then put the book down at last.

I really enjoyed the 2nd person point of view because it really made me feel like I was in this guy's head. Being a woman, I'm not sure I have ever had that perspective before and it was extremely interesting. Mr. Everyman is an engaging character that immediately won my interest and sympathies. I rooted for him every step of the way and the story felt very honest. I'd love to be able to get into my husband's head in the same way.

The incredible attention to detail was my favorite part -- especially in describing his morning coffee routine and the elevator and all the office scenes. That level of detail reminded me of Nicholson Baker (without the bizarre sex).

I look forward to reading more of Mr. Israel's work. I hope he has a long career.

Israel's hero in this debut novel takes swipes at the vagaries of modern dating life while good-heartedly making fun of himself.

The writing is quirky and warm with abundant humor. Use of the second person point of view was executed very well. This book should appeal to men and women equally.

There's a fresh voice in the literary world, and it's original, witty, insightful. David Israel's first novel, Behind Everyman, is a fun guide through the minefields of dating. While told from the male viewpoint, it's a story for both men and women who are out there looking for the "right one." It's so exhilarating and touching that it's also a story for all who have already hit love's pay dirt.

Penned in the second person, protagonist "Everyman" remains unnamed which is, as Israel explains, so that readers can give him whatever name they choose, be it Ted, Malcolm or Job. Simply put, he wants what every 20 or 30 something guy wants "creative satisfaction, direction, a good bowel movement, and love."

His physical appearance is not described. Again, so that readers can attribute whatever physical characteristics they wish to this fellow who's looking for someone other than Fern "whose face resembles a manhole cover more than it does a vascular houseplant."

How to meet that someone? There are numerous ways, such as maybe one rainy evening you'll see a good looking woman sans umbrella. You offer to share yours; her name is Justine and the relationship begins. You try your best, even to discovering that when she tells you she plays racquetball it really means that someone gave her a pricey racquet for her birthday. Realizing that "flossing your teeth would burn more calories than an hour on the court with Justine," doesn't daunt you. Nonetheless, Justine drops you.

Alas, this happens often to "Everyman" until he finally meets the girl of his dreams, and begins writing a screenplay inspired by their relationship. He struggles through draft after draft, wondering how it will end.

Happily-ever-afters are becoming harder and harder to come by. Read "Everyman" for a round of chuckles, and perhaps find out why.

- Gail Cooke

David Israel's Behind Everyman is a book unlike any other. it deals with the dating-couplehood 30 something scene from a veiwpoint much neglected: The Guy's.

Yeah, we've all grown tired of Bridget Jones or Carry Bradshaw, but how would you write the story through Mr. Big's eyes? or better yet, through Aden's?

Yes, guys get involved in relationships too, we, too, find it almost unbearable to wait by the phone and wait for her to return a call. And we, too, feel great after a date that left us smiling all day long.

So, basically, Behind Everyman is a must-read book for guys, if they want to feel someone there really understand them, and a must-read for women, who often say, that men are un-understandable.

And one more thing - the book is written in second person form, and a do-it-yourself guide comes to mind. Which brings out the question - maybe the ladies are right, telling us we need to be told everything in specific?

Behind Everyman is, really, a brilliant, magnificent book.

Easily the funniest book i've read in the last couple years. Israel, Everyman, the narrator, whoever, is ADORABLE! I read this cover to cover in one evening. It says something on the back of the book about being perfect for a long flight. I couldn't agree more. Everyman is one of those page turners where the time just zings by. My only criticism is: It's too damn short! Weighing in at 180+ pages, the novel could use another couple chapters. Maybe take the story a little further so we know what happens to this guy. But then again, part of the charm is in wondering, and in making up your own ending. Does he get the girl? Do they move out west? I wanna say "yes."

It's part Woody Allen, part Nick Hornby, part Lorrie Moore, which is kind of astounding because you wouldn't think to file those authors on the same shelf. Like early Woody Allen, some passages are whacked and surreal. Like Hornby, he gets the male thing to a T. And like Moore, he makes you think, and certain lines/sentences, just stick with you for days after.

Here's a line I especially liked: "...the parting, as usual, will be premature. Things will be left unsaid and will have to wait until next week. Emotions and thoughts discarded at the last minute like half-eaten pastries, an ear of corn, or frozen fish found sitting in the candy racks at the supermarket checkout."

After reconnecting with David at our 20h High School reunion I picked up his book. I'm glad I did cause it was seriously the funniest book I ever read. The second person perspective was hilarious. Being inside someone else's head and hearing what they think and "pre-think" but never say cause it's inappropriate.

I now live near San Francisco after having grown up in South Jersey and he brought a lot of memories from my time at the shore, in NYC and Long Guylin back to life. His characters were dead on but not overly stereotypical of the east coast, NYC, 20 to 30 something, /Gen X/Y. He wrote a lot of tongue in cheek but oh so true humor in a fresh way I could actually see myself in a lot of the same situations.

I was ROLFing at his description of dinner at the girlfriends house with the bug zapper zapping and dog barking incecently while the main character was trying to listen to some inane story being told during dinner. I must have re-read the passage 4 or 5 times it was that funny.

And just in case you may be reading the other reviews and concerned that there may be a lot of humor in the book about breads or grains, I can assure you there is no humor involving wheat, sour dough or RYE.

They say that behind every man is a good woman, yet so much contemporary

fiction features the devastation caused to women's lives by bad men.

David Israel's novel, "Behind Everyman," offers a refreshing counterpoint

voice, on behalf of all the good men out there.

With candor and wit, this novel sketches a vivid portrayal of contemporary

life and true love, from a good guy's perspective. As you read "Behind Everyman,"

you will smile and remember that decent men are more common than their dysfunctional counterparts.

Whatever challenges life presents--and there are many depicted in "Behind Everyman"--this novel will

make you feel that there's hope for real relationships and true love. For the film directors out there,

this novel also provides perfect fodder for a romantic comedy. Let's hear it for the

good guys!

Claudia Moscovici, Notablewriters.com

A funny, interesting book, easy to read, well written, and entertaining. Would probably appeal more to someone in their late teens/early twenties, or anyone who likes Adam Sandler-type movies. Would like to read more by the talented David Israel-- Behind Everyman was great fun.