Steven M. Rubin W’83 is the author of a new novel, The Unraveling of Michael Galler (SparkPress). He writes, “The book is a psychological family drama about a teenager transitioning from high school to college, and whose entanglement in an intense, complex new relationship exacerbates his obsession over his greatest fear: cancer.” It has received favorable reviews from other Penn alumni, including USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Friedland C’99 L’00, Pulitzer Prize–nominee and journalist Vahe Gregorian C’83, and filmmaker Gavin O’Connor C’86.
A common question to me has been, “When did you start writing the book?” With some reflection, and some evidence below, I remembered I had submitted an abridged version of the fourth chapter into the 1997 Marblehead Festival of Arts and won Adult Short Story Best of Show. This chapter was the introduction of a new character, Tremont, and his entrance into the story felt like it could stand alone as a compelling short story. The judges apparently agreed.
————–
A brief excerpt:
Tremont’s mother shook him again. This time she shook him so hard that even her own body was rocking feverishly, as if she were trying to shake herself out of this nightmare that was her life.
They were at a standoff. She could not give him what she did not have, and he could not surrender a strategic position he had risked so much to achieve.
One other thing gave Tremont an uneasy feeling: She seemed to know something that he did not. She knew something and was uncomfortable with the knowledge, and Tremont did not know it and was uncomfortable with the lack of knowledge.
He saw only one resolution. He needed to find a new source for the money. But first he needed to find out what had his mother so distraught.
Both questions were answered simultaneously when a steady knock sounded at the front door.
His mother redirected her anger at the wall clock, as if that were the problem.
“He’s early,” she whispered, as if the man on the other side of the door had his ear pressed against it. There was another knock, this time firmer. His mother stood leaning weakly on the kitchen table, motionless. She looked at Tremont, the clock, the door, then surveilled the room one last time, seeming bewildered by her options. She ran a hand through her hair as if she could rake an idea out of the knotted mess.
“I can’t control what happens when he comes in,” she warned.
Tremont pushed out his chest and dug his fingernails into his palms. “Could you ever? Let him in.”
————–
The Marblehead Weekly News ran a story this week acknowledging the distance from that award to today, as I am now about a month away from my May 12, 2026 publishing date.
https://marbleheadweeklynews.com/festival-of-arts-award-winner-publishes-first-novel/
The Unraveling of Michael Galler is about a teenager transitioning from high school to college, who tries to outrun an obsessive fear of getting cancer while balancing the physical toll of Boston Marathon training with the emotional toll of a promising, but emotionally complex relationship.
It’s available for pre-order on amazon, Barnes & Noble, Simon & Schuster, your local independent bookstore, and many other retailers.
“The Unraveling of Michael Galler is a thoughtful and emotionally charged exploration of how fear, love, and loss intertwine to shape a life. With sensitivity and insight, it examines the toll of illness, both physical and psychological, while tracing Michael’s complex relationships with his father, brother, and first love. The result is a poignant story about endurance, vulnerability, and the quiet unraveling that comes from trying too hard to hold everything together. Set against the contrasts of Boston’s suburbs, city streets, and college life, The Unraveling of Michael Galler is a gripping story of endurance, obsession, and the fragile line between control and collapse– a haunting reminder that the world we fight to protect exists not only around us, but within us.”
—Jacqueline Friedland, USA Today bestselling author of He Gets That From Me and Counting Backwards
“The Unraveling of Michael Galler lures you in as a poignant, even relatable, journey before it compels you into a suspenseful cautionary tale. Steven M. Rubin’s thought-provoking and visceral eloquence illuminates the adage that our thoughts become our words, words become our habits, and habits become our character—and ultimately our destiny.”
—Vahe Gregorian, Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist and sports columnist at The Kansas City Star
Family is at the heart of our emotional lives. Every family, like every fingerprint, has its own unique pattern, its own set of conflicts and values and bonds. The Unraveling of Michael Galler examines whether the bonds of family can be stronger than the forces that work to pull it apart. Steven M. Rubin has created a physical and emotional battleground in which the underlying tension could escalate at any moment until it eventually leads you to its inevitable cathartic conclusion.
—Gavin O’Connor, writer and director of Miracle, The Accountant, Warrior, and The Way Back
“…explores timely themes of health anxiety and personal identity…”
—Boston Today
Steven M. Rubin 