The Assistant
byBernard Malamud
Genres: Fiction
The Assistant, Bernard 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. 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. Like Malamud'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. 'His best novel . . . The Assistant is as tightly written as a prose poem.' --Morris Dickstein in Leopards in the Temple: The Transformation of American Fiction 1945-1970
Language
en
Published on
07/07/2003
Pages
272
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780374504847
Who is this book for? Readers interested in immigrant experiences and character-driven narratives.
Topics LoveFamilyIdentity
MoodReflective
RomanceMajor Subplot
ViolenceMild
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