Welcome to Litsy!

David Lazar by best-selling author Robert Kalich is a semi-autobiographical novel that blurs the lines between memoir and fiction. A modern love story with a twist of a mystery, it portrays the inner-life of a complex everyman and the incredible externalities of wealth, power and lifestyle that a super successful city dweller acquires. David Lazar is an octogenarian penning his memoir. With mortality dancing on the horizon, Lazar's thoughts drift as he pieces together the arc of his life. There was his happy childhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side, his mother a child psychologist, his father a celebrated cantor, and his diverse friends (leaders in New York City culture, arts, sports and politics). Others in the cast of characters include: the beautiful women Lazar loved and lost, his soulmate and wife Elizabeth Dunn and their teenage son Liam, wealthy associates, business mentors, organized crime figures, celebrities, and sports stars. Politics, culture, and locales are vividly portrayed offering a social history of the Big Apple from the 1950s to the present day. After graduating college Lazar becomes a social worker helping the city's neediest, but is unable to satisfy his first wife's demands for a grander lifestyle. He turns his attention to sports betting and finds a path to earn millions as a college basketball handicapper. The money opens doors and allows Lazar to live extravagantly, yet his work was unsatisfying and dehumanizing. Kalich presents an unflinching portrait of Lazar as a gifted but flawed man who can be appreciated for his sensitive and compassionate nature. But it also reveals Lazar's dark side, his insecurities, the indignities of aging, the fraying edges and his deep need for redemption. He is haunted by his past and the disappearance of an employee. Why didn't he tell Elizabeth about the immoral nature of handicapping? Did he sear his soul in order to make millions? If he is fully authentic, does he risk losing what he cherishes the most: the love and respect of his wife and son? The stakes are high as Lazar finishes his memoir knowing that Elizabeth will soon discover the man he once was. David Lazar is a page-turner about love, power, wealth, corruption, personal demons, and the dangerous ways they come together. It is also much more. It is a journey into the soul of a man who loses far more than he wins. It is as much a human story as a New York tale. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Robert Alan Kalich (1937- ) is an American writer and author. His first novel, The Handicapper: A Novel About Obsessive Gambling, was published in 1981 by Crown Publishing. The book became a national best-seller and garnered critical praise and was selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. His second novel, The Investigation of Ariel Warning, was published in 2012. Kalich was born in and lives in New York City. He co-founded a film and theatrical production company called The Kalich Organization with his twin brother Richard Kalich, who is also a published author. As an avid sports enthusiast, Kalich has also compiled rating handbooks on players in professional basketball and baseball. AUTHOR HOME: New York, New York