false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1161975625m/3068.jpg 3068 18 <div>Introduction by Jonathan Rosen<br><br>Bernard Malamud&#8217;s second novel, originally published in 1957, is the story of Morris Bober, a grocer in postwar Brooklyn, who &#8220;wants better&#8221; for himself and his family. First two robbers appear and hold him up; then things take a turn for the better when broken-nosed Frank Alpine becomes his assistant. But there are complications: Frank, whose reaction to Jews is ambivalent, falls in love with Helen Bober; at the same time he begins to steal from the store.<br><br>Like Malamud&#8217;s best stories, this novel unerringly evokes an immigrant world of cramped circumstances and great expectations. Malamud defined the immigrant experience in a way that has proven vital for several generations of writers.<br></div> 1181346 7 7 1957 The Assistant: A Novel total:645|5:150|4:279|3:158|2:52|1:6| 645 2450 981 72 3 4 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu May 31 14:56:14 -0700 2007 Thu May 31 14:56:14 -0700 2007
There has been a bit of buzz about Malamud lately mostly due to his daughter’s recently published memoir, My Father Is a Book. Malamud is most often described as the under appreciated, overlooked middle child between the great Jewish-American novelists of the last century, Bellow and R...more...]]> 0 1 false false Thu Jan 03 19:09:15 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 19:10:04 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 12:20:44 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 12:31:11 -0800 2009
Mostly I was really de...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 20:08:57 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 21:11:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Aug 25 23:32:24 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 00:15:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 16:42:42 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 13:04:19 -0800 2009 The Assistant won the National Book Award in the 50's. I've only today learned that it was actually Malamud's later novel, The Fixer, that won the award (as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) in 1967. C'est la vie.

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This sharp story is chock full of layered psychological drama (which I like). Let's see- competing loyalties, prejudices, forgiveness, redemption, frailties and insecurities, desperate love. All. We humans are a mixed-up lot.

M...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 14:51:44 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 15:00:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Jan 19 17:34:10 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 17:38:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 07:24:02 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 17:57:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 06 23:18:54 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 21:47:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 25 13:32:16 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 13:36:15 -0800 2008 Memorable quotes:
"when times were bad, time was bad."
"In a store you were entombed."
"God bless Julius Karp, Without him I would have mylife too e...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 18:43:59 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 18:07:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 11:51:36 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 05:35:44 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3068