NOVELIST AND PLAYWRIGHT
DAVID KALISH
THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYTHING Named Top Literary Novel in Somerset Fiction Awards
Finalist in Comedy Category of Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Available at bookstores, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other venues
"An exuberant, hilarious first novel"
-- Askold Melnyczuk, founding editor Agni Magazine, author House of Widows
Imagine doing the opposite of everything that came before ...
Debut Novel Explores Comic Side of Tragedy
Inspired by his own brush with cancer and divorce, author David Kalish makes comedy out of his past in his debut novel, The Opposite of Everything.
Equal parts love story and Job-like allegory, The Opposite of Everything traces the hilarious descent of a man stricken with disease, divorce, and an oversupportive father – and the contrarian strategy he uses to resurrect himself.
When Brooklyn journalist Daniel Plotnick learns he has cancer, his fortunes fall faster than you can say “Ten Plagues of Egypt.” His wife can’t cope, his marriage ends in a showdown with police, and his father accidentally pushes him off the George Washington Bridge.
Plotnick miraculously survives his terrifying plunge --and comes up with a crazy plan to turn his life around: by doing the opposite of everything he did before.
Scroll Down to See Advance Praise
The Opposite of Everything
David Kalish is a fiction writer, screenwriter and playwright whose debut novel, The Opposite of Everything, was released in 2014 by WiDo Publishing.
The Opposite of Everything grew out of his studies at the Bennington College Writing Seminars, where he earned his MFA. His short fiction has been published in numerous literary journals, his non-fiction in the Writer’s Chronicle, and a short film of his, "Regular Guy," won honors in film festivals here and abroad. Before Bennington, he was an editor and reporter at The Associated Press, and his articles have appeared in major newspapers. He is currently working on a second novel, entitled Stoner Hero, and a theatre script for a Latin version of A Christmas Carol. He lives in upstate New York with his wife, daughter, two dogs, and two canaries.
Advance Praise for The Opposite of Everything
Philip Roth may have pocketed his pen for good, but not before siring a love child on Woody Allen. Meet David Kalish, whose exuberant, hilarious first novel uncovers the light side of divorce, cancer, and computer dating. Sharp-tongued yet warm-hearted, Mr. Kalish shows us that the opposite of everything we know is exactly what we’ve needed to learn.
-- Askold Melnyczuk, author of The House of Widows, Ambassador of the Dead, What is Told , and founding editor of AGNI magazine.
The Opposite of Everything is an evocative tale of pre-hipster Brooklyn in which Mr. Kalish injects his pitch-perfect humor into some of the most challenging quandaries a career-focused New Yorker can face. His oddball characters mix in a clash of cultures between native New Yorkers and the immigrants who infuse the city, and the book's central character, with new life.
-- Gerry Mullany, deputy editor at The New York Times
Mr. Kalish’s first novel is a wonderful book. I can’t help but compare the protagonist, Daniel Plotnick, to the very best of John Irving and Philip Roth's quirky and unforgettable characters. This book will have you laughing out loud, and that Plotnick himself would believe is excellent for your health.
-- Virgil Suarez, author of Latin Jazz, The Cutter, and Spared Angola
A comedy about cancer? A love story about divorce? David Kalish's debut novel The Opposite of Everything is the opposite of everything you'd expect in a book with these downbeat themes. It's a grand toast to contrarian optimism and a grand cheer to Life!
-- Aimee Liu, author of Cloud Mountain and Flash House
Chances are, if you're reading this blurb, that you know these people: appealingly smart, smartass, hip, a tad cynical. Of course, that saves them from nothing -- not the writ of family and heritage, the heavy lifting of love, the inarguable division of cells. Kalish knows these people too, intimately, and he tells their tale with heart, grace, and a journalist's clear eye.
-- Will Hermes, author of Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York City That Changed Music Forever
A zany, romantic novel about the things that break our hearts -- cancer, crazy families, busted dreams -- and the things that sustain us: love and second chances.
-- Seth Kaufman, author of The King of Pain
One of the most thoroughly engaging and compelling stories I've read in a long time -- a page-turner that coaxes you on through one man's journey, written so intimately, it's almost as if you were sneaking into his journal. Along the way, you will find yourself rooting for Daniel Plotnick as he teeters on the edge of the George Washington Bridge, endures his medical treatments, closes painful doors, and opens windows to new possibilities. As I read, I could visualize each masterfully scripted scene as if watching it on the big screen. The result, David Kalish’s first novel, is rich with hilarious cultural clashes. He’s taken meaty chunks of his life, thrown them into a stockpot with a Colombian blend of spice, and added a dash of kosher humor. All in all, an intimate and joyful delight.
-- Becky Lyn Rickman, author of The Convict, the Rookie Card and the Redemption of Gertie Thump
