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David Lazar
What happens when a husband has lived two lives and harbors a deep secret?Robert Kalich blurs the lines between memoir and fiction to tell a timeless story of love and redemption, with a dash of noir. David Lazar is a born and bred New Yorker reflecting on the arc of his life as he composes his memoir. Filled with colorful New York characters--childhood friends, business mentors, wealthy associates, organized crime figures, celebrities, and sports stars--and told by a complex and compelling narrator, the city from the 1950s up to the present comes alive. The Big Apple is Lazar's cradle and his cauldron, and a life like Lazar's is unique to New York City. A professional sports gambler, Lazar is haunted by the immoral nature of the very work that made him rich. His innermost being is shaken as he reimagines the dehumanizing nature of his work and former life. Did he sell his soul to make it? Is there redemption for wealth based on corruption and violence? If he is completely honest, does he risk losing what he cherishes the most: the love and respect of his wife and son? Lazar has a decision to make. This is the story of a perilous journey into the soul of a man who risks losing far more than he's ever won. Welcome to the world of "David Lazar," the world of doubt and self-doubt, where life is lived as a novel and a novel is truer than life.
- GenresFiction
180 pages, Hardcover
Published November 21, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 21, 2019
‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards’ - Kierkegaard
New York City author/writer Robert Kalich is co-founder of The Kalich Organization – a film and theatrical production company – and in addition to his novels he has written handbooks on professional basketball and baseball players. He has been a social worker, a journalist, and a professional basketball consultant. His popular novels THE HANDICAPPER: A NOVEL ABOUT OBSESSIVE GAMBLING and THE INVESTIGATION OF ARIEL WARNING have won awards, and now his new novel – DAVID LAZAR – is a fictionalized memoir, and as such it is an impressive venture for the author and a most rewarding one for the reader!
Writing a memoir, a true reflection on a rich life, carries the problem of revealing facts about self, but also facts about confreres that could be embarrassing. Robert avoids the pitfalls by making this fascinating book a fictional account, thus protecting the ‘innocent.’ A hint of why this choice of direction was chosen is evident in Robert’s early-on statement: ‘The protagonist is not likeable. He is unlikeable. He has inimical traits stretching the worldly gamut from Here to There. Those traits take center stage when he whines and feels sorry for himself rather than man up and offer remorse to those individuals he manipulated, maimed, and destroyed. To add pepper to his cruelties, David Lazar’s lifestyle should be labeled obscene, an eighty-year stench. Let’s face it, David Lazar is not to be envied. He’s as universally flawed as most of us. Read on; decide for yourself if I am mistaken.’ And with that ‘clarification’ the author proceeds with one fine novel.’
Opening with David’s own survey of his life, we read ‘On two of the high walls of my wood-paneled study are giant collages with extremely small photographs of faces pasted onto cardboards. When I look at this collage of people, I see my own life in front of me as if it were beginning and ending, living with deep gulps of nostalgia, heartache, and self-condemnation in between. Think of it as taking a swim in dangerous currents, going under, coming back to the surface to gasp one more time. It all began so long ago. But this is not a story going from point to point; instead, it’s a shuffling of my entire existence, like a deck of cards. So, if I confuse you, it just happens to be the way I see my life, not as anything coherent or straightforward but as cards being manipulated by a dealer’s deft hands, falling into place as if they were casino chips and when stacked—Bingo! You have an octogenarian who’s still surviving, some would say, on God’s inexplicable blessed air. The question now is, can you place these cards of my life where they belong?’
The story? ‘David Lazar is a born and bred New Yorker reflecting on the arc of his life as he composes his memoir, told by a complex and compelling narrator. A professional sports gambler, Lazar is haunted by the immoral nature of the very work that made him rich. His innermost being is shaken as he reimagines the dehumanizing nature of his work and former life. Did he sell his soul to make it? Is there redemption for wealth based on corruption and violence? If he is completely honest, does he risk losing what he cherishes the most: the love and respect of his wife and son?’
In eloquent prose Robert Kalich launches a brilliant novel, one most assuredly to become a best seller. Highly recommended.
New York City author/writer Robert Kalich is co-founder of The Kalich Organization – a film and theatrical production company – and in addition to his novels he has written handbooks on professional basketball and baseball players. He has been a social worker, a journalist, and a professional basketball consultant. His popular novels THE HANDICAPPER: A NOVEL ABOUT OBSESSIVE GAMBLING and THE INVESTIGATION OF ARIEL WARNING have won awards, and now his new novel – DAVID LAZAR – is a fictionalized memoir, and as such it is an impressive venture for the author and a most rewarding one for the reader!
Writing a memoir, a true reflection on a rich life, carries the problem of revealing facts about self, but also facts about confreres that could be embarrassing. Robert avoids the pitfalls by making this fascinating book a fictional account, thus protecting the ‘innocent.’ A hint of why this choice of direction was chosen is evident in Robert’s early-on statement: ‘The protagonist is not likeable. He is unlikeable. He has inimical traits stretching the worldly gamut from Here to There. Those traits take center stage when he whines and feels sorry for himself rather than man up and offer remorse to those individuals he manipulated, maimed, and destroyed. To add pepper to his cruelties, David Lazar’s lifestyle should be labeled obscene, an eighty-year stench. Let’s face it, David Lazar is not to be envied. He’s as universally flawed as most of us. Read on; decide for yourself if I am mistaken.’ And with that ‘clarification’ the author proceeds with one fine novel.’
Opening with David’s own survey of his life, we read ‘On two of the high walls of my wood-paneled study are giant collages with extremely small photographs of faces pasted onto cardboards. When I look at this collage of people, I see my own life in front of me as if it were beginning and ending, living with deep gulps of nostalgia, heartache, and self-condemnation in between. Think of it as taking a swim in dangerous currents, going under, coming back to the surface to gasp one more time. It all began so long ago. But this is not a story going from point to point; instead, it’s a shuffling of my entire existence, like a deck of cards. So, if I confuse you, it just happens to be the way I see my life, not as anything coherent or straightforward but as cards being manipulated by a dealer’s deft hands, falling into place as if they were casino chips and when stacked—Bingo! You have an octogenarian who’s still surviving, some would say, on God’s inexplicable blessed air. The question now is, can you place these cards of my life where they belong?’
The story? ‘David Lazar is a born and bred New Yorker reflecting on the arc of his life as he composes his memoir, told by a complex and compelling narrator. A professional sports gambler, Lazar is haunted by the immoral nature of the very work that made him rich. His innermost being is shaken as he reimagines the dehumanizing nature of his work and former life. Did he sell his soul to make it? Is there redemption for wealth based on corruption and violence? If he is completely honest, does he risk losing what he cherishes the most: the love and respect of his wife and son?’
In eloquent prose Robert Kalich launches a brilliant novel, one most assuredly to become a best seller. Highly recommended.
January 6, 2020
In a memoir with a fictionalized character representing himself, Robert Kalich presents a unique novel part imagination and part truth with more criminality, secrets and deception than you might think. David Lazar is presented as a trip through a lifetime of memories, significant people and events which loops back to the present day.
As a master of handicapping college basketball, Lazar reeled in huge sums of money setting him up for the rest of his life. But it was a lifestyle reliant on deals, secrets, deception and little by little violence and control. The link between the past and the present is the continued battle Lazar now has trying to decide how much to reveal to his beloved family. Within trying to make these decisions is a reflection on his life and a slow realization of his own responsibility in many of the stand out events that took place. An acceptance that despite the money-filled, comfortable family life he has now achieved, the legal and respected status of the day to day he now lives, he has a past filled with actions and decisions that were far from that level and it’s a past that could take his present contentment from him.
The details in this book of what David Lazar did in this earlier life, the risks and actions he took to maintain his gambler position and winning streak, range from the unethical to the simply violent and illegal. The more extreme acts and confessions in here would send the NYPD right to Kalich’s door if they were true. This is where David Lazar is an interesting and unique piece of work. It’s been called autofiction, a fictionalized memoir, part fiction, part memoir. It’s a tentative mix of stories, memories, realities and truth with only the author truly knowing exactly which bits are down to his imagination and which are true memories.
As a master of handicapping college basketball, Lazar reeled in huge sums of money setting him up for the rest of his life. But it was a lifestyle reliant on deals, secrets, deception and little by little violence and control. The link between the past and the present is the continued battle Lazar now has trying to decide how much to reveal to his beloved family. Within trying to make these decisions is a reflection on his life and a slow realization of his own responsibility in many of the stand out events that took place. An acceptance that despite the money-filled, comfortable family life he has now achieved, the legal and respected status of the day to day he now lives, he has a past filled with actions and decisions that were far from that level and it’s a past that could take his present contentment from him.
The details in this book of what David Lazar did in this earlier life, the risks and actions he took to maintain his gambler position and winning streak, range from the unethical to the simply violent and illegal. The more extreme acts and confessions in here would send the NYPD right to Kalich’s door if they were true. This is where David Lazar is an interesting and unique piece of work. It’s been called autofiction, a fictionalized memoir, part fiction, part memoir. It’s a tentative mix of stories, memories, realities and truth with only the author truly knowing exactly which bits are down to his imagination and which are true memories.
January 7, 2020
A Wonderful Read
Great storytelling. Hugely entertaining, as well as instructive. The kind of book that holds your interest from the first page to the last. It offers complex lessons as well as simple pleasures, the pleasure of literature written with quality and depth while being very readable and easy on the senses. Above all, a novel must be enjoyed which, despite the complex life which it undertook to dissect, this novel achieved. A really outstanding read and a deserving five stars!
Great storytelling. Hugely entertaining, as well as instructive. The kind of book that holds your interest from the first page to the last. It offers complex lessons as well as simple pleasures, the pleasure of literature written with quality and depth while being very readable and easy on the senses. Above all, a novel must be enjoyed which, despite the complex life which it undertook to dissect, this novel achieved. A really outstanding read and a deserving five stars!
April 5, 2020
OK, Boomer....
I just could not take the full 243 pages of this guy's story. I made it to page 133, before having to skip to the ending. If his wife did not forgive him, I figured I didn't need to hear his endless prattle either. The self-pitty and aggrandizement followed by misplaced "good intentions" was too much. Do we really need to hear about another rich old dude, former glory days and hopes for final redemeption?
I just could not take the full 243 pages of this guy's story. I made it to page 133, before having to skip to the ending. If his wife did not forgive him, I figured I didn't need to hear his endless prattle either. The self-pitty and aggrandizement followed by misplaced "good intentions" was too much. Do we really need to hear about another rich old dude, former glory days and hopes for final redemeption?
May 24, 2021
This is absolutely the worst book I have ever read. About halfway through I considered quitting but realized I was having fun laughing at how powerfully bad it was. It’s like watching The Room.
January 15, 2025
Pretty awful for a book named after me..
September 3, 2023
David Lazar is a fictionalized memoir. Many of the key achievements in the main character's life are similar to the author's life from being a sports handicapper to writing a book about racism. Of course, it's is still fiction. Otherwise, the cops will be knocking on Robert Kalich' door one of these day. David Lazar is an old man with a young wife and a son in high school. In his eighties, he's feeling the pinch of mortality and has reached that stage that Erik Erikson described as Ego Integrity vs. Despair. That time when older folks take stock of their life and decide whether it was all worth it. The am I a success, am I a failure, am I a good person interrogation of their lives.
Lazar had many advantages. His father was a cantor and he went to college. He had a rich life, even though he didn't have money. He had social connections. He has several relationships with women, one formative one with the lust of his life, Leslie Kore. When she left him, he made the I'll-Show-You decision to get rich and show her. He took his deep knowledge of sports and developed a handicapping system based on knowing all the stats and playing the averages. Illegal sports betting is still a criminal activity that put him in daily contact with made men and mob bosses.
Now he struggles with the thought of telling his wife and son who he really is, the real warts and all Lazar. Could they love him?
I struggled to finish David Lazar and in a cruel kind of irony, that is because Kalich did such a good job of creating the voice of this old man reviewing his life. You see, when people do this, they don't do it with a linear narrative. They repeat some stories and phrases. They go along telling some anecdote then suddenly jump decades ahead or behind with something unrelated, though perhaps connected in some way in their head. There's stream of conscious rambling and then there is literary stream of consciousness, one that has a hidden discipline that keeps it on track. There was no discipline in this book and it made it frustrating to read. But, I will admit I could actually hear David Lazar in my head.
I received a copy of David Lazar from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.
David Lazar at Bunim and Bannigan
Robert Kalich author site with brother Richard Kalich
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
Lazar had many advantages. His father was a cantor and he went to college. He had a rich life, even though he didn't have money. He had social connections. He has several relationships with women, one formative one with the lust of his life, Leslie Kore. When she left him, he made the I'll-Show-You decision to get rich and show her. He took his deep knowledge of sports and developed a handicapping system based on knowing all the stats and playing the averages. Illegal sports betting is still a criminal activity that put him in daily contact with made men and mob bosses.
Now he struggles with the thought of telling his wife and son who he really is, the real warts and all Lazar. Could they love him?
I struggled to finish David Lazar and in a cruel kind of irony, that is because Kalich did such a good job of creating the voice of this old man reviewing his life. You see, when people do this, they don't do it with a linear narrative. They repeat some stories and phrases. They go along telling some anecdote then suddenly jump decades ahead or behind with something unrelated, though perhaps connected in some way in their head. There's stream of conscious rambling and then there is literary stream of consciousness, one that has a hidden discipline that keeps it on track. There was no discipline in this book and it made it frustrating to read. But, I will admit I could actually hear David Lazar in my head.
I received a copy of David Lazar from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.
David Lazar at Bunim and Bannigan
Robert Kalich author site with brother Richard Kalich
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
December 16, 2019
David Lazar, an octogenarian, is looking back on his life, writing his memoir. He has a collage hanging on his wall with so many faces from his past. As he narrates the story of his life, he introduces us to all of these many faces. The ex-girlfriends, the friends, the criminal acquaintances, and all of those in between that have crossed his path, he tells a story for each one. He switches back and forth between his past and his present. The life he had before Elizabeth, his wife, was crazy, dangerous, and illegal. The life he's had since meeting Elizabeth has been calmer, he's settled, and he loves his wife and son.
David couldn't offer an explanation of why he did the things that he did. Why he was so obsessed with money...it seemed as though nothing was ever enough. This is made obvious throughout his story and with the many, many garbage bags of money that he has buried. I found it sad that he didn't realize until so late in life that money wasn't really that important in the grand scheme of things. He finally came to the conclusion that his wife, son, being able to write his books, those were the things that were important, that would make him happy.
Throughout the book he keeps going back to Evan Strome. The truth about Evan Strome could cost him his wife and son. He was so worried about them finding out the truth. We don't find out what exactly Evan Strome has to do with anything until the end of the book. This truth, if it comes out, has the power to destroy everything he holds dear.
As David looks back over his life, he really takes inventory. Taking off the blinders that he's wore all of these years, he sees that while he's been so busy laying blames on others a lot of it falls back on him.
The book could be a tad bit confusing ar times as it switched back and forth between timelines but once I caught on I was good to go. I loved it and highly recomment it!
David couldn't offer an explanation of why he did the things that he did. Why he was so obsessed with money...it seemed as though nothing was ever enough. This is made obvious throughout his story and with the many, many garbage bags of money that he has buried. I found it sad that he didn't realize until so late in life that money wasn't really that important in the grand scheme of things. He finally came to the conclusion that his wife, son, being able to write his books, those were the things that were important, that would make him happy.
Throughout the book he keeps going back to Evan Strome. The truth about Evan Strome could cost him his wife and son. He was so worried about them finding out the truth. We don't find out what exactly Evan Strome has to do with anything until the end of the book. This truth, if it comes out, has the power to destroy everything he holds dear.
As David looks back over his life, he really takes inventory. Taking off the blinders that he's wore all of these years, he sees that while he's been so busy laying blames on others a lot of it falls back on him.
The book could be a tad bit confusing ar times as it switched back and forth between timelines but once I caught on I was good to go. I loved it and highly recomment it!
December 24, 2019
David Lazar by Robert Kalich
This is a stream of conscious themed book. David Lazar, the fictional protagonist, talks about his life.
The jacket of this book suggests this story incorporates factors of reality in the life of the author.
He apparently reveled in his bad decisions and the people of questionable character that he associated with throughout his life. He focuses on collage photos to trigger memories of his life. He is an octogenarian looking back and indulging in self-analysis. He regrets many, many of his life’s decisions.
The book seemed disjointed. There never seemed to be a smooth flow but perhaps that is due to life not flowing smoothly.
If you like a memoir type book, this may be your cup of tea.
This is a stream of conscious themed book. David Lazar, the fictional protagonist, talks about his life.
The jacket of this book suggests this story incorporates factors of reality in the life of the author.
He apparently reveled in his bad decisions and the people of questionable character that he associated with throughout his life. He focuses on collage photos to trigger memories of his life. He is an octogenarian looking back and indulging in self-analysis. He regrets many, many of his life’s decisions.
The book seemed disjointed. There never seemed to be a smooth flow but perhaps that is due to life not flowing smoothly.
If you like a memoir type book, this may be your cup of tea.
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