Gabriele Battaglia interviews David Israel for VIRGILIO

Translated from the Italian by Elena Mastromauro

Behind Everyman
The male version of Sex and the City

June 14 2005

This is the revenge of the single “big city” male, yet one which will appeal to women as well.

David Israel’s Behind Everyman can be described as an entertaining novel, suitable for quick but not too frivolous reading. Truth be told, many men will recognize themselves in the main character. He is one of those out there with no brilliant college degree in their hands, searching continually to find their future and whose earnest desire, nested deep in their heart, is to experience a beautiful love story only to find out how hard that can prove to be.

The generic name Israel chooses for his hero “Everyman” says it all: this could be you, me, it could be any one of us. His book deals with Everyman’s intimate dreams, the perplexed stare when confronted with the hardships of life: the problems at work but beyond and above all it deals with the relationship with our better half.
This is the stuff great comedies are made of, or better yet TV series. Israel himself, off the record, confessed: “Yes, I was inspired by Sex and the City, the way every episode revolves around one particular concept.”

So why the term “revenge”? Because if you are male and you can’t stand the four ladies from Sex and the City, if you wholeheartedly desire to exterminate them, if you believe that your partner has fallen into a phase of intellectual torpor, ever since she refuses to miss an episode of this wretched program; if you are certain that this is a conspiracy to denigrate your profound masculinity, then Israel is addressing you. Israel creates your intimate day-by-day diary, and gives it dignity and a sense of belonging. Though he later adds: “Most of my readers are actually women!”

GB: Reading your biography one might think of you as a rather successful person, yet in your book you write of a somewhat unsuccessful man. How much of your book would you say is actually autobiographical?

DI : Five years ago I made the mistake of writing a book where the main character was identical to me. It was never published. Then, after a while, I wrote another one about a guy less similar to me. That was not published either. There is an explanation for that: a writer should always speak of what he knows, but not to the point that he ends up writing an autobiography. In my first two books I was too close to my characters and that made it difficult for me to sustain the necessary objectivity. In this novel I achieved exactly that. The autobiographical aspect of this book consists of the fact that I, too, have the same desires as “Everyman”: a monogamous relationship with a woman.

GB: I noticed that your hero does more thinking than acting. Would you say this is a typical characteristic of the single man living in a big city?

DI : Yes, it is typical. There is a lot of self-analyzing going on with singles. But, notice that there are two different points of view in the book. On one side you have the narrator, who speaks to the protagonist and who is swift, and on the other side there is the protagonist who acts on his own sweet time.

GB: Another problem the protagonist seems to be facing is his confusion especially when it comes to the opposite sex. Do you find that the fear of not being accepted is a prevalent condition?

DI : Had I written a book about an extremely self-confident person, then the average reader would not be able to identify. A sexy, eloquent, roguish character works better in a film. In a novel like mine, you need something a bit more complex: first and foremost the character has to strive for something, he has to face obstacles. But facing difficulties relating to women isn’t an usual phenomenon, especially in New York today.

GB: Being with a woman and ending up in therapy. How are the two connected?

DI: Good question. If you intend to spend your life with a woman, you should first know who you are, your needs and your limitations, your soft spots. Well, this alone could be construed as a kind of self-therapy. I sometimes find myself in conferences, where single women ask questions like: “what is it that men want from women?”. I often feel like answering: look inside yourself, realize who you really are, and then you will know what type of man best suits you.

GB: The story in the story. The conducive thread of your novel is actually the plot that your character is writing. How come you chose this narrative form?

DI: Meta-narration has always existed, even before Hamlet’s time. I thought that the story in the story would be interesting. The hero resolves one problem of the plot and at the same time he solves his own personal issues. In the end, when he finishes the scirpt, you will find that the story leaves you with a sense of hope.
The book consists of three acts, just like the film script he’s writing. In the first act, there is the outline of the distinctive traits of each character. In the second one, the main character divests himself of his skin, in order to look deeper inside in search of his true self. In the third act, he finally finds the solution.

GB: Let us talk about the end, without revealing it. It seems very hard for love and self-realization to co-exist in our modern society. The path chosen by your hero, was that a narrative choice or a simple constant factor?

DI: I do not think it is that. The self-realization of my hero is at the same time the instrument through which he reaches the right decision, from his personal point of view, of course. Had he not reached his self-realization, he could have never rediscovered love.

GB: Everyman in his 50’s. Have you ever wondered what he would be like?

DI: You will see that in the sequel. Naturally I have thought about that. When I write I invent the past and the future of my characters, which I do not include in the book. I chose to leave the end kind of hazy, open, so that the reader can construct it in his mind.

GB: So, there will be a sequel. Any other future projects?

DI: My agent is selling my latest novel, called “The Pervert, the Hypochondriac and the Feminist”. I am also starting to work on a comical thriller, which takes place in various countries all around the world, and where the main character is a flight attendant.
Afterwards I will write the sequel to “Behind Everyman”. I am also working on a TV pilot.

GB: Speaking of which. Your novel seems quite suitable for the small, as well as for the big screen. Do you think “cinemawise” when you are writing?

DI: Yes, when I write a scene I always imagine it visually, as if it were a film. Besides, I would like to try my luck as a director someday. I think I'd be good at it, I have a very visual imagination. Although I have an agent in Hollywood, there’s no telling if “Behind Everyman” will make it to the movies.