With his first memoir, acclaimed writer Daniel Wallace delivers a stunning book that is as innovative and emotionally resonant as his novels. Part love story, part true crime, part a desperate search for the self, This Isn’t Going to End Well tells an intimate and moving story of what happens when we realize our heroes are human. A memoir wrapped in an elegy… [that] maps a strangely stunning life… [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion — for William, for everyone. This Isn’t Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There’s deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness — a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity.”―Washington Post

Daniel Wallace is a fantastic storyteller, and even though we know what's coming (to some degree anyhow), there's enough light in the early going to offset the darkness we know lies around the corner. A memoir wrapped in an elegy… [that] maps a strangely stunning life… [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion — for William, for everyone. This Isn’t Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There’s deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness — a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity.”— Washington Post This brilliantly layered book is about what calls us to write, create, dance and even destroy those we love. What began as Daniel Wallace’s story became my story, too – the writer who lives “in that place between experience and understanding” and is compelled to touch bone regardless of the pain. I love this book. This Isn’t Going to End Well ended too soon -- and like all great ghost stories I want to read it again.” Holly was Daniel's sister and William's soulmate. Holly and Nealy were a pair, like a cup and a saucer. She suffered from debilitating arthritis, and he was her hero, her caregiver, her lover. Nealy saw what was troubling everyone else, but evidently no one saw what was really troubling him. Was he ultimately left to drift alone? This book honors William's memory, including his search for justice for his friend Edgar. It is written with so much warmth and honesty, that it cannot fail to touch your heart as you learn what possibly led to his untimely death. Tenderly written by a man who loved him, was influenced by him, and perhaps shaped by him, the book brings to life this fallen hero that few recognized as someone also in need. He did not reveal his own troubled, private thoughts, but instead created an external persona which was that of a brave man of many talents who could do anything he set his mind to do. His brief life had a tragic ending instead of a hero’s welcome because he lived a double life, one private and one public.A memoir wrapped in an elegy… [that] maps a strangely stunning life… [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion — for William, for everyone. This Isn’t Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There’s deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness — a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity.” ― Washington Post Vulnerable and engrossing all in one, this is an intensely personal portrait of grief.”— Kat Baltisberger, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill Magazine Wallace’s storytelling skill captures the vibrant personality Nealy showed the world, and his emotional candor the tragedy of a good man ‘who was toxic only to himself.’” ― Booklist

Daniel Wallace’s new book, “This Isn’t Going to End Well,” is a eulogy, a cautionary tale, a love letter and a sob of anger. Of course not, because it's just an 'idea' at base; which is why I wrote that they will ' ...destroy Hamas as it stands...', in the same way that the Allies did the Nazis. Germany / the Germans weren't wiped from the face of the Earth, and even now there are Nazi sympathisers to be found; but as a functioning and effective thing, Nazism was neutralised. Nealy had an extraordinary life that needed no embellishment. He also struggled with a lot of demons, including the unsolved murder of his best friend, and near-constant suicidal ideation. You either understand suicidal depression or you don't, and pretty clearly Wallace doesn't. It is cringe-inducing to read his fumbling about for reasons why why Nealy lived - and died - the way he did. He spends a lot of time being angry with Nealy for leaving his sister, and refuses to fulfill said sister's wishes after she dies, and it takes nearly twenty years for him to try to right that wrong. Without any sort of belief in the spirit world or afterlife, however, this rings incredibly hollow. Wallace may have believed he came full circle, but I don't.A revelatory and reflective tale about how males perceive others and how they present themselves. More than anything, I felt compassion for their vulnerability and fear, and made me realize perhaps we are not so different, men and women, after all.”— Sandra Cisneros, author of Martita, I Remember You Wallace] oscillates between memoir, elegy, and excavation to recount details, stories, and heartbreaking truths about Nealy—discovering more about his friend in death than he did in life—and reveals intimate, often difficult realizations about himself.”— Alta Online I'm a little miffed I broke my streak of all-female authors in 2023 for this. It's tough to think of this as a memoir, because Wallace only speaks of himself in relationship to William (his brother-in-law whose suicide is the impetus for this book). An it's also tough to think of this as a biography of William, because the coverage of his life is so spotty. Like, did he and Wallace's sister Holly ever get married? I thought they had, but sometimes it seemed like they hadn't. Wouldn't it have been better to make that clear, and to include a wedding scene, if there was one? As for your last bit, if I had been an Israeli leader at the times of the major conflicts, I would have done just as you wrote. It would have brought even more criticism from people who would criticise me anyway, but so what? It would have made Israel vastly more defendable and, despite the extra scorn, more secure. Don't get me wrong, when the Jewish terrorists were targeting our people I'd have happily slotted them, but I'm writing from an Israeli perspective. William did everything with an effortless style and served as a model of manhood, an alternative to Daniel’s cautious and conservative father. William’s seize-the-day approach to life gave Daniel the courage to become a writer, and after William and his sister married they weren’t just brothers-in-law but the closest of friends.

This brilliantly layered book is about what calls us to write, create, dance and even destroy those we love. What began as Daniel Wallace’s story became my story, too – the writer who lives “in that place between experience and understanding” and is compelled to touch bone regardless of the pain. I love this book. This Isn’t Going to End Well ended too soon — and like all great ghost stories I want to read it again.” ― Terry Tempest Williams, author of Erosion – Essays of UndoingTHIS ISN’T GOING TO END WELL: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew, by Daniel Wallace. Illustrations by William Nealy. Lastly two. I am surprised by how annoyed I am that the writer did not follow through with his sister's wishes on her deathbed because he became angry at his brother-in-law. His actions felt like those of a scorned lover rather than a brother-in-law who should have, at the top of his mind, his sister's last directions. Of course we want to see Israel safe, peaceful and secure,” he says in an interview, but there is no indication from Hamas that they would accept or abide by a ceasefire. His work has been published in over two dozen languages, and his stories, novels and non-fiction essays are taught in high schools and colleges throughout this country. His illustrations have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Italian Vanity Fair, and many other magazines and books, including Pep Talks, Warnings, and Screeds: Indispensible Wisdom and Cautionary Advice for Writers, by George Singleton, and Adventures in Pen Land: One Writer's Journey from Inklings to Ink, by Marianne Gingher. Big Fish was made into a motion picture of the same name by Tim Burton in 2003, a film in which the author plays the part of a professor at Auburn University. Thank you to @algonquinbooks for sending me an advanced reading copy of THIS ISN’T GOING TO END WELL: THE TRUE STORY OF A MAN I THOUGHT I KNEW by Daniel Wallace (on sale 4.11.23).