Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Assistant
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
Introduction by Jonathan Rosen. 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.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
sarahbellum
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image
Mehso-so

I finished my Feb #bookspin, The Assistant, last night and am calling my Feb #bookspinbingo board complete.

The Assistant was a sad story, a meditation on stuck-ness and inevitability in life, but it was also hard to put down. My first Malamud, but probably not my last.

For the second month in a row, I didn‘t get to my #doublespin. Let‘s see what March has in store!

TheAromaofBooks Great month!!! 2y
25 likes1 comment
blurb
sarahbellum
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

I was tempted to bring some work to do while I wait at the vet, but it‘s been a long week, so I‘m just gonna read 🤓

blurb
Andrea4
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

Hey, everybody! I got that job I interviewed for last week!!! *insert little rascals happy dance*
Thanks to all those who gave me words of support and encouragement! I feel really good about this new change, which is actually coming quick- I'm supposed to start Monday! 😮 So...read ALL THE BOOKS by Monday?! 😂😂

AmyG Congrats! 🎉 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Yay!!! Congratulations 🎉🍾🎈🎊 6y
julesG Congratulations! 6y
See All 10 Comments
FantasyChick WooHoo!!!! Congrats! Time to celebrate! 🎉🍾👏👏 6y
TrishB Well done 👍🏻 6y
Bookzombie Congratulations!!! 6y
bedandabook Congratulations! I hope you really enjoy it. 6y
Cinfhen Yay! That‘s awesome news💕congrats 6y
megt Congratulations!!! 6y
Andrew65 Well done! 🍾🥂 6y
35 likes10 comments
blurb
starrdom
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

#OccupationInTitle #FallIntoBooks @RealLifeReading This one is a #tbr based on its inclusion in the Time magazine all-time 100 books list.

quote
Lindz524
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

MrBook Interesting seeing a hyphenated "endured". 8y
2 likes1 comment
quote
Lindz524
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

It frustrated him hopelessly that every move he made seemed to turn into an inevitable thing.

quote
Lindz524
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

blurb
prowlix
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

Gave in to peer pressure and I managed to read 4 books during jury duty! I couldn't pick just one favorite but The Assistant blew me away! I went in knowing very little about plot or author and now count myself as a fan. Somehow Malamud has become a lost classic that need a resurgence!

BookishFeminist That's impressive jury duty reading! There's a silver lining after all. Love your addition of an unexpected find. 8y
brendanmleonard Love the font, and the additions (translation, unexpected find). 8y
prowlix @brendanmleonard @BookishFeminist thanks! I had to add something since I couldn't pick a favorite. And I like the idea of sharing a new book people haven't heard about! 8y
15 likes3 comments
review
prowlix
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image
Pickpick

Themes of our prejudices and the possibility of changing; both how people can change and how we can be changed by those around us. Morris and Frank are unforgettable characters. This forgotten classic should be talked about more! It's so good! 4.5 ⭐️

10 likes2 stack adds
quote
prowlix
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

She feared most of all the great compromise - she had seen so many of the people she knew settle for so much less than they had always wanted. [...] Her constant fear, underlying all others, was that her life would not turn out the way she hoped, or would turn out vastly different."

quote
prowlix
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

2/2 "....to clean it out of his self and bring in a little peace, a little order; to change the beginning, beginning with the past that always stupendously stank up the now - to change his life before the smell of it suffocated him."

7 likes1 stack add
quote
prowlix
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

1/2 "....that he had known all his life he would sometime, through throat blistered with shame, his eyes in the dirt, have to tell some poor son of a bitch that he was the one who had hurt or betrayed him"

8 likes1 stack add
quote
prowlix
The Assistant: A Novel | Bernard Malamud
post image

"He labored long hours, was the soul of honesty - he could not escape his honesty, it was his bedrock; to cheat would cause an explosion in him, yet he trusted cheaters - coveted nobody's nothing and always got poorer." Seems like appropriate choice for day 2 jury pool reading

11 likes1 stack add