About The Ha-Ha, A Novel by Dave King - Dave King holds a BFA in painting and film from Cooper Union and an MFA in writing from Columbia University. He has been published in The Paris Review and Big City Lit, and he has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. An unforgettable first novel about silence, family, and the imperative of love. Howard Kapostash has not spoken in thirty years. Ever since a severe blow to the head during his days in the Army, words unravel in his mouth and letters on the page make no sense at all. Because of his extremely limited communication abilities--a small repertory of gestures and simple sounds--most people see him as disturbed. No one understands that Howard is still the same man he was before enlisting, still awed by the beauty of a landscape, still pining for his high school sweetheart, Sylvia. Now Sylvia is a single mom with troubles of her own, and she needs Howard's help. She is being hauled into a drug rehab program and she asks Howard to care for her 9 year-old son, Ryan. The presence of this nervous, resourceful boy in Howard's life transforms him utterly. With a child's happiness at stake, communication takes on a fresh urgency, and the routine that Howard has evolved over the years--designed specifically to minimize the agony of human contact--suddenly feels restrictive and even dangerous. Forced out of his groove, Howard finds unexpected delights (in baseball, in work, in meals with his housemates). His home comes alive with the joy, sorrows, and love of a real family. But these changes also open Howard to the risks of loss--and to the rage he has spent a lifetime suppressing. Written with a luminous simplicity and grace, The Ha-Ha follows Howard down his difficult path to a new life. It is a deeply moving story about the cost of war and the infinite worth of human connection. A stunning debut novel.

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Book cover for Dave King's novel, The Ha-Ha


	"The Ha-Ha is an immense pleasure. Stylish and assured, filled with wit and wisdom, its narrative depth and rich characterizations are all the more impressive when one considers that this is Mr. King's first novel, the beginning of what promises to be a wonderful journey—for him, and us."
	–Nicholas Christopher
	"The Ha-Ha is a merry, serious inquiry into how love is given and accepted by memorable stirring characters for whom you will find yourself cheering. Cheer too for Dave King's accomplished debut."
	–Frederick Busch
	"Frank O’Connor once suggested that the single quality necessary to fiction is an “intense awareness of human loneliness.” Dave King displays this quality in The Ha-Ha, a first novel of uncommon literary elegance and abiding compassion for its many troubled characters."
	–Melvin Jules Bukiet

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silence, family, and the imperative of love.

Howard Kapostash has not spoken in thirty years. Ever since a severe blow to the head during his days in the Army, words unravel in his mouth and letters on the page make no sense at all.

Because of his extremely limited communication abilities—a small repertory of gestures and simple sounds—most people see him as disturbed. No one understands that Howard is still the same man he was before enlisting, still awed by the beauty of a landscape, still pining for his high school sweetheart, Sylvia.

Now Sylvia is a single mom with troubles of her own, and she needs Howard’s help. She is being hauled into a drug rehab program and she asks Howard to care for her 9 year-old son, Ryan. The presence of this nervous, resourceful boy in Howard’s life transforms him utterly.

With a child’s happiness at stake, communication takes on a fresh urgency, and the routine that Howard has evolved over the years—designed specifically to minimize the agony of human contact—suddenly feels restrictive and even dangerous. Forced out of his groove, Howard finds unexpected delights (in baseball, in work, in meals with his housemates). His home comes alive with the joy, sorrows, and love of a real family. But these changes also open Howard to the risks of loss—and to the rage he has spent a lifetime suppressing.

Written with a luminous simplicity and grace, The Ha-Ha follows Howard down his difficult path to a new life. It is a deeply moving story about the cost of war and the infinite worth of human connection.