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276th out of 396 books
—
101 voters
The Complete Stories
New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1997
With an Introduction by Robert Giroux, The Complete Stories of Bernard Malamud is "an essential American book," Richard Stern declared in the Chicago Tribune when the collection was published in hardcover. His praise was echoed by other reviewers and by readers, who embraced the book as they might a...more
Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1997
With an Introduction by Robert Giroux, The Complete Stories of Bernard Malamud is "an essential American book," Richard Stern declared in the Chicago Tribune when the collection was published in hardcover. His praise was echoed by other reviewers and by readers, who embraced the book as they might a...more
Paperback, 656 pages
Published
October 12th 1998
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
(first published 1997)
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I've been told I like movies that have no plot. I suppose one could make the same indictment of my taste in books. Malamud's novels often seem to have no solid beginning or end, and some of his short stories share this quality. But in this way they feel more real, more lifelike. Malamud is an expert at showing us parts of ourselves that we'd rather not face. His characters make terrible choices and the reader is left wondering if they'd possibly do any better.
"Life, despite their frantic yoohooi...more
"Life, despite their frantic yoohooi...more
Malamud is an extraordinarily fine writer.
His novels are solid, but his short stories are transcendent.
It's so difficult to write a short story that works,and, of course, since few people read short stories anymore, it's a lost art form. Malamud is one of the best. I suppose because of his subject matter -- Judaism with occasional forays int magic realism -- he is often classified with Isaac Bashevis Singer. I always think of him as the literary male equivalent of Alice Munro, though. Deep insig...more
His novels are solid, but his short stories are transcendent.
It's so difficult to write a short story that works,and, of course, since few people read short stories anymore, it's a lost art form. Malamud is one of the best. I suppose because of his subject matter -- Judaism with occasional forays int magic realism -- he is often classified with Isaac Bashevis Singer. I always think of him as the literary male equivalent of Alice Munro, though. Deep insig...more
If you want to read THE definitive collection of Short Stories of the 20th century - Malamud is your guy.
You can read pretty much everything he wrote here...
"Life is for the Living"...
"A Pimp's Revenge"...
Will take your breath away...!
You can read pretty much everything he wrote here...
"Life is for the Living"...
"A Pimp's Revenge"...
Will take your breath away...!
My favorite short stories ever, especially The jew Bird, the Silver Crown, the Magic Barrell--wow, including everything, I guess, but especially The Angel Levine, perhaps the best short story of modern times. Seriously.
From this collection I have read the following: The First Seven Years, The Magic Barrel, The Mourners, Angel Levine, Take Pity, The Last Mohican, Idiots First, The Jewbird, Man in the Drawer, and The Silver Crown
Aug 30, 2008
Patrick
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who like fiction/short stories
Recommended to Patrick by:
Matt Groening's forward to B.A.N.R. 2006
Favorites include "A Choice of Profession," "Rembrandt's Hat," "The Loan," "The Bill," "The Magic Barrell," "The Jewbird," "Naked Nude," "A Pimp's Revenge," "My Son the Murderer," and "Glass Blower of Venice." This is by far the largest collection of short stories I've ever read and probably the best. It rivals Flannery O'Connor's both in quality and quantity. The varied styles of writing are intriguing. Many of the stories end in complete chaos after brutal revelation by the protagonist. The st...more
If you want to hear the cadence of Yiddish speaking American Jewry in New York before WWII, this is the book you need.
Mr Malamud is a great short-story writer. His characters are so human that you can feel and meet them in any society you go to. His stories represent an astonishing abundance of narrative smarts and brilliant prose.
Some wonderful and intriguing short stories. Worth the read.
Not the easiest read, for the most part, but good stories :)
He sure can write!
Five stars feels silly, but four -- what is the point. I like the Silver Crown. I also like Rembrandt's Hat. Malamud seems like he was very sad. He seems like he was a realist to the point of everything being gray, and everyone being ugly. The Silver Crown is nice, because it is about a realist like that trying to get out, and trying to believe in something. Rembrandt's Hat is just about failure. No escape stuff.
55 stories spanning a 45 year career. Aside from a few stinker stories from the 1960s and 1970s this collection is very enjoyable. As good as most of these stories are, however, none of them equal the elegance and beauty of his prose in the novel, "The Assistant". Still, recommended.
“I defy anyone to read this and find one story that isn't great or that doesn't keep you glued to the page.”
This is a large collection. Some stories were winners, some were not. Even the good ones seem a little dated now, but Malamud really is a wonderful writer of short stories. I think it might be his near perfect framing of a situation.
Malamud has a unique way of giving simple stories depth and meaning. I love picking up this book for work breaks because the stories are brief and all of them are very, very good.
Malamud's talent is severely underated in my opinion. Yes, some of his stories are a bit trashy, but on average his stories are well written, humrous and touching.
Excellent! Malamud brings the extraordinary out of the ordinary. With this on the back of my toilet, I always looked forward to my morning privacy time.
I think the Jewbird short story is in this. That is an amazing piece. It still touches me.
i tried i tried i really tried to understand why this is so good
No one can touch this short story master.
it's his complete works--whats not to love?
Nov 11, 2010
Cody
marked it as to-read
Back on the shelf for a while.
May 23, 2013
Ellee
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
400-500pgs,
fiction-megalist
May 20, 2013
Ayny
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
John Frusetta
marked it as to-read
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Bernard Malamud was an author of novels and short stories. Along with Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, he was one of the great American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseball novel, The Natural, was adapted into a 1984 film starring Robert Redford. His 1966 novel The Fixer, about antisemitism in Tsarist Russia, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
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“Life, despite their frantic yoohooings, had passed them by.”
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