The Assistant - (FSG Classics) by Bernard Malamud (Paperback)

About the Book

Malamud's second novel, originally published in 1957, is the story of Morris Bober, a grocer in postwar Brooklyn, who "wants better" for himself and his family. Like Malamud's best stories, this novel unerringly evokes an immigrant world of cramped circumstances and great expectations.

Book Synopsis

An Intimate Window into the American Immigrant Experience

Morris Bober, the family patriarch, yearns for better fortune as he runs a grocery store, never expecting how two robbers would change his life. Working alongside Morris, Frank Alpine, with his own complex relationship with the Jewish community, finds himself entangled in a web of emotions and conflicting actions. As he becomes smitten with Helen Bober, he simultaneously finds himself embroiled in acts of theft.

This tale of love, family, and ambition sits within the broader landscape of a New York cityscape steeped in a vibrant mix of Italian-American and Jewish cultures. The stark realities of 1950s Brooklyn color this narrative in a way that is as vivid as it is compelling.

Like Malamud's best stories, this novel unerringly evokes an immigrant world of cramped circumstances and great expectations. With a blend of contemporary American literature and psychological fiction, Malamud offers an inimitable insight into the nuances of immigrant family life while shedding light on the universal human experience.

Review Quotes

"The clarity and concreteness of [Malamud's] style, the warm humanity over his people, the tender wit that keeps them first and compassionable, will delight many.... Mr. Malamud's people are memorable and real as rock." --William Goyen, The New York Times

"Perfect ... A lyric marvel." -- The Nation

"There is a binding theme throughout the book, a search for fundamental truths through the study of ordinary people, their everyday ups and downs, their mundane pleasures and pains ... Malamud's vision, style and world are distinctively original." -- San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Bernard Malamud (1914-86) wrote eight novels; he won the Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for The Fixer, and the National Book Award for The Magic Barrel. Born in Brooklyn, he taught for many years at Bennington College in Vermont.