these, from some small online sources:

first, culled from a bay area website:


"Talk about love's complications. David Israel does, and with considerable aplomb, in "Behind Everyman: A Novel for Guys and the Women Who Rescue Them." He writes as though he's outlining your life, in the "you" of second person. It works and you'll be hooked."

and now, an excerpt from my very first "scathing" review, reprinted from a boston area website:

"The premise is so lacking in originality, the reader needn't read more than half of the book to guess the outcome. In summary, a guy meets and falls in love with a girl, they break up, he realizes at the last possible minute that he has to get back together with her (you can almost see the movie poster now with Ashton Kutcher hugging Drew Barrymore from behind..."

my response to that:

from their website to god's ears! ashton kutcher and drew barrymore???? cha-ching!!!

heeb magazine has published most of my BE chapter called "how to fix things" in their new issue (issue #8, the photo issue). pick up a copy on newstands, or buy it through their website. there's also a short excerpt from the chapter. click here and then scroll down and click on the "how to fix things" linkage.

virtual dave made a comeback last night after a month hiatus. we both want to thank all the great people of pittsburgh who came down for the event. i've posted a bunch of photos in the gallery. check 'em out HERE.

yesterday i made my first appearance at a book club. as far as i know, it was the first book club that read BE. many thanks to katie, scott, brett and kristen for having me and especially to steven for opening up his home, preparing all that delicious food, and offering me his stunning 5th ave many-roomed-aptartment in exchange for my shoebox. i'll be taking him up on it in due course.

and to brett, who can finish the monday nytimes crossword puzzle in five minutes: well, today is monday. what did you get for #5 across?

here's some more photos from yesterday.

            

thanks so much to everybody who came to the joe's pub evening. you were a sold-out crowd with a lot of belly-laughs in ya. always nice to be on stage in front of such a lively audience. also: thanks to josh and shana at heeb magazine for inviting me, and especially for publishing a chapter of my novel in your next issue (more on that as the pub date nears).

i'll be posting a bunch of photos in the gallery later today. meanwhile go read something funny that fellow writer, heeb story telling performer, and gawker editor jessica coen took away from the evening.

ps -- photos are now up in the gallery.

last reminder about tonight's joe's pub event. it's going to fantastic! guaranteed. even gothamist says so. (and they don't like readings.)

               the bed from which i'm presently posting...

i'm lying on the bed, in my hotel, in boston, and it's raining. actually it's pouring so hard even the old man is up. no snoring here. thought i'd kill time before my train back to nyc by posting a few photos from last night's reading. you can check 'em out here.

don't forget about joe's pub on tuesday. i'll be reading a new story and playing guitar. actually, it's an old story, but it's never been published, so basically it's new. though i plagiarized some of it in behind everyman (used a lot of the same articles, like "the" and conjunctions, like "but" -- if you come and wonder why you recognize some of the words).

haven't read his book, but if this cartoon is any indication, sam apple's new book is worth picking up.