“Tony Mazza is the ne’er-do-wellest of ne’er-do-wells, equally inept at romance and retail, whose best intentions invariably transmute gold to lead. His countless wrong turns ultimately see him joyride a stolen ambulance into a Porsche while intoxicated, but along the way, he manages to lose two wives, multiple careers, a college education and even a baby sister. In Where I Went Wrong, David Galef’s rollicking romp in reverse through Mazza’s bungled backstory, readers enjoy a Faulknerian tour de voice of minor mishaps and boomeranging pranks that strip-mine high comedy from the real estate offices and taverns of suburban New Jersey. From its riotous conclusions to its poignant start, Galef takes us up the rabbit hole into Mazza’s magical mayhem. A wry masterpiece and a must-read for anyone who has ever screwed up royally.”
—Jacob M. Appel, author of Einstein’s Beach House

“Where I Went Wrong is a wistful, engaging, and ingeniously told story of man who must figure out just when and where his life began to fly off the rails. It’s a coming-of-age story in reverse, with a surprise ending (or is it a beginning?) that may just send you back to page one to reread the whole thing in a different light.”
—Gary Krist, author of The Mirage Factory

“David Galef’s Where I went Wrong is a novel of striving, failure, and more striving—lovely, deft and bittersweet. It’s the story fading industrial Jersey has been waiting for.
—D. T. Max, author of Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace

Tony Mazza is no stranger to bad days; in fact, they often seem to define his life, including stints at a real estate agency, a bike shop, and a bar. After his latest job, as a hospital orderly, he faces jail time for driving off in a stolen ambulance. “ Where did I go wrong?” he wonders as he thinks back on his failed relationships, a disastrous investment, and family challenges dating back to high school and earlier...all the way back to his birth, as recounted by his much-put-upon mother. Where I Went Wrong is Tony’ s story, a novel that blends action with rueful reflection, examining the complexities of failure and success. It poses the question of why some people lose out while others get away with little short of murder, offering a narrative both comic and profoundly serious.

David Galef is a shameless eclectic who’ s published over a dozen books, including the novel Flesh, the short story collection My Date with Neanderthal Woman, the children’ s book Tracks, Japanese Proverbs: Wit and Wisdom, and Brevity: A Flash Fiction Handbook. Day job: English professor and creative writing program director at Montclair State University. He’ s also the editor of Vestal Review, the longest-running flash fiction magazine on the planet.