"Kalich's book is about Lazar, a Harlem social worker who knows that beyond those mean streets—somewhere—are rainbows and pots of gold, bright lights and limousines.”Sports Illustrated on The Handicapper
"If David Lazar were a song, it could only be sung by Frank Sinatra. As a book, it could only have been written by Robert Kalich. If it's true that we're all reduced to stories, Kalich has told one helluva one! Enjoy the ride."Tim O’Mara, author of the Raymond Donne Mystery Series
"David Lazar is a gripping story of choices and their consequences; a slightly fictionalized memoir of a morally ambiguous life not so well lived. Whether it’s apology or rationalization is left to the reader to decide. It’s worth the journey.''Ira Berkowitz, Shamus Award-winning author of the Jackson Steeg Mystery Series
"A truly disturbing look into the mind of a guy who could live next door--if you happen to live next door to a professional gambler who works with wealthy businessmen and mobsters and just happens to be the best college basketball handicapper in the business."Kenneth Wishnia, author of 23 Shades of Black, and editor of Jewish Noir
"In the hands of a vivid and cinematic storyteller, David Lazar’s winter-of-life soul search becomes an addictive journey, leaving the reader to wonder just how much Kalich has blurred the lines between memoir and fiction."Karen Tintori, author of Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American Family
"David Lazar is a refreshingly unabashed narrator, and his memory lane is populated by characters who are, well…characters! A most compelling read!"Wendy Corsi Staub, New York Times best-selling author
"Awesome honesty, pacing and reflection. The best book I've read in a long while."Susan Braudy, Pulitzer Prize nominee, author of Kick Kennedy's Secret Diary
35 years after Robert Kalich told too much of the truth in his bestseller, The Handicapper, he’s now written the rest of the story in the highly controversial David Lazar…
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 lifelike Lazar’s is unique to New York City.
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Joe DiMaggio sat with us. “What’s doin’, Joey boy?” Solomon Lepidus bellowed. A second later he said,“Can you imagine that, Joey boy? I’m willin’ to put up eight million in real dollars to buy the Yankees and Paley turned me down. That Steinbrenner! The shipping guy from Ohio! CBS is selling the New York Yankees to him!”
“Solomon,” I said. “You were turned down because The Times exposed how you were laundering money for organized crime figures.”
“Them dirty whores! Let them try to prove it!” On a mobster friend’s attempted purchase of the New York Yankees.
"Madonna came over once when she was a young woman breaking into the business. Surprisingly, when it came to men, Madge, at least to me, seemed clueless…"
“I haven’t met a man who piqued my interest since I left Michigan, David . . .That’s the truth! Not one!”
"Don’t take this the wrong way, you’re really good-looking, and it’s obvious you’re extremely intelligent. But as far as presentation goes, well, most men in Manhattan, I mean the kind that you should be dating, are looking for, well, again, I’m not trying to be rude, but they’re looking for someone less intimidating. And with the way that you present yourself, like some hippy who doesn’t take baths, it would turn most guys off before you had a chance to turn them on.”
“Let’s just drop it. I’m not interested in your opinion. Furthermore, I like who I am.”
On a young Madonna.
One December night in 1961, we went to the Copa. Matty “The Horse” Ianniello, the future crime boss of the Genovese crime family, his beloved wife, Beatrice May, Solomon, Hana, Morty Lefko (aka “The Colonel”), his wife, Leslie and me.
All of us got along just fine until the women went to freshen up.
“I can’t believe the stuff you put up with from that wife of yours, Matty,” The Colonel said. “A tough guy like you.” Matty slowly drew his gun from its holster. Jammed the barrel deep into The Colonel’s mouth. “What did you say?”
The Colonel pissed his pants. On Mobster Matty “The Horse” Ianniello.
As for Willie (Mays), he was in a class by himself. The same league as Sugar Ray Robinson in boxing; Bob Cousy in basketball; Jim Brown in football. These men were the Prousts, the Tolstoys, and the Joyces—not just of 1951 but of all time. Now that I’m eighty years old with perspective, I know that to be truer than ever.On great athletes and great writers.
I have to confess, at least to myself if not to Liam, not to Elizabeth, that a chunk of me doesn’t think it a despicable thing that I was in barbarous shootouts with the men I opposed. Maybe a large chunk doesn’t consider my behavior despicable. I was no better than they were. I was probably a whole lot worse considering the advantages with which I had started out. But how many of us went off to war without blinking or thinking? Killed better men than we were?David Lazar on himself.
"When gambling beats art, something is certainly fucked up in this world."David Lazar
More by Robert Kalich
The Basketball Rating Handbook
The Basketball Rating Handbook is an ingenious approach to basketball lore that rates the skill of college performers and professional basketball players. This original book which combines the objectivity of statistics with the subjectivity of the fan will add to the reader’s appreciation of the fast-paced 24-second sport.
The Baseball Rating Handbook
The Baseball Rating Handbook is a unique & ingenious approach to rating professional baseball players, This completely original book combines the objer.tivity of statistics with the subjectivity of the fan. The Baseball Rating Handbook will educate motivate and make each and every reader appreciate and value the achievements of the game and the players who have performed so well on its diamonds.
The Handicapper
The glory of the book is that Robert Kalich gives a dead-honest account of the Dismal Science of Gambling. Kalich has a firm grasp. He writes with a fervor of a man intimately familiar with gambling giving us a wonderful insight into the gambling mind.
The Investigation of Ariel Warning
A literary thriller centering around 'twinship.' A young woman takes a position with the Remler twins film company. For her own inscrutable reasons she romantically pursues both brothers simultaneously. When one twin betrays the other, their lives experience a 'shaking of the foundations.'
The Negro Manifesto
Calling for new attitudes, new energies, and new self-assessment by the Black man, author Robert Alan Kalich has warned in a series of essays titled ''The Negro Manifesto' that we are moving toward two societies, one Black and one White...
About Robert Kalich
Robert Kalich is a born-and-bred New Yorker, the city he still calls home. He is the author of several non-fiction books and two previous novels: The Investigation of Ariel Warning, and The Handicapper, which was a national best-seller published by Crown. Kalich has worked as a social worker, a journalist, and as a professional basketball consultant. He co-founded a film and theatrical production company, The Kalich Organization, with his twin brother Richard, who is an internationally acclaimed author. Robert Kalich is an avid reader and maintains a home library of 10,000 books. He lives with his wife, Brunde, and his son, Knute, in New York City and North Salem, NY.
Photo Credit K&R Photos
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