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

By David Israel

CONSIDER THIS: EITHER YOU ARE EVERYMAN OR YOU KNOW SOMEONE JUST LIKE HIM. . . . Everyman wants what every man wants, at least what most single guys approaching thirty want: a satisfying career,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345476603
• ISBN13: 9780345476609
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

How to Read This Book

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.

READS LIKE A BREEZE!

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)

A DILLY OF A DEBUT

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

Who's Everyman?

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.

5 Stars, No, 6!

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."