The Assistant: A Novel (Paperback)

~ Bernard Malamud (Author), Jonathan Rosen (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This new specialty-interest audio publisher is launching its line with two strong titles in addition to this one: Betrothed by S.Y. Agnon, read by Peter Waldren, and Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson and the Year that Changed Our Lives by Susan Dworkin, read by Bess Myerson and Adam Grupper. Known especially for the craft of his short stories, Malamud (The Fixer; The Natural) published this novel in 1957. Frank Alpine is an Italian-American drifter who lands a job working for a humble Jewish grocer in Brooklyn. When he falls in love with the storekeeper's daughter, he is forced to reexamine his moral and spiritual beliefs. Guidall, one of audio's finest narrators, extracts a strong sense of atmosphere from Malamud's richly descriptive language. He throws himself into the many charged dialogue scenesAcomplete with the ethnic accents requiredAexpressing pathos and humility without overdramatizing.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review

"George Guidall, a veteran narrator for Books on Tape, turns in a sensitive, emotionally affecting performance for this intriguing tale of a poor Jewish grocer and the mysterious young man who comes to work for him. Frank Alpine is a complex young man who thinks he's an honest and decent person but again and again finds himself involved in dishonest schemes. Afterward, he feels guilty and promises to do better. Morris Bober is a poor, elderly Jew, who, like Frank, has had a hard life filled with bad luck. But unlike Frank's, Morris' conscience is clear. When their paths cross, a chain of events is set in motion that will change both of their lives forever. Guidall deftly brings the characters to life, voicing Morris with just a hint of the distinctive Yiddish/Eastern European Jewish singsong cadence without ever veering toward parody. Frank talks quickly, always trying to convince others and himself that he is a better person than he appears. This is a complex yet satisfying audio listen." -- Billboard Magazine, 9/25/99

"Not one false moment mars George Guidall's resonant interpretation of the Pulitzer Prize winner's 1957 novel. With surprising lyricism and characteristic irony, the author writes of Frank, a young, Gentile nogoodnik, who comes to work for a Jewish ma-and-pa grocery in return for room and board. The family owners don't know that Frank was one of the thieves who previously robbed the place and clubbed Morris, the paterfamilias. For his part, Frank is at war with himself, ever vacillating between his good and brutal instincts. Guidall is totally in synch with this group, vividly portraying the inner life of each. He delivers the narrative with equal aplomb, making every moment seem effortlessly riveting." -- AudioFile, Dec99/Jan00 --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (July 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374504849
• ISBN-13: 978-0374504847
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,053 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page after page interest!, November 6, 2003

By	Rizzo (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

If ever there was a verbally-tight book, it is this. Every page is interesting, every word, and there is never a dull page. In true Melamud style, the stories are short but powerful. The superb writing of the plot moves consistently. However, I did get the feeling toward the end that a number of dramatic sequences seemed crammed at the end, and without the minute attention paid to the earlier part of the story.

The plot evolves in post-war, a neighborhood in New York among an aging Jewish grocer whose deli/food store business struggles amidst modernism and greedy competition. The main characters, Morris, his stoic wife Ida and a grown daughter Helen live above the store and work long hours to keep it alive. Daughter Helen yearns to have a loving man and an education.

Enter Frank Alpine, a young Italian man who after a criminal act upon Morris, and unbeknown to Morris, Frank lands a job in the store to pay his debt. Here, he continuously fends off his demons while attempting to follow a morally correct life and in his command, the store goes through economic and physical changes that fluctuate greatly, not always good or bad. And, as expected, he falls in love with the daughter and their relationship takes turns and twists too.

Immediately, Melamud gives us a distinct picture of the desperation the family endures. You can grasp with ease the images and separation of personalities. This is done with precision applied by the finest authors. We get more than we anticipate, when Melamud provides extensive insight into his character descriptions, and most important, to their thoughts. Above that, he provides us with questions and answers we might need to further develop the characters thoughts and actions.

After absorption into the story, I still had questions and I'm sure you will too and maybe it takes another read. Overall, the short classic is excellent. ........MzRizz

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an american classic, 50 years on, November 24, 2006

By	lisatheratgirl "lisatheratgirl" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

I've read this book 50 years after it was published, but unlike some novels, it's not dated at all. Not only does it work well as a period piece, but its portrayal of people, of the body blows dealt by life, and of the way this country doesn't live up to what immigrants think they are going to find is relevant today. I felt the publisher's blurb on the edition I had and some other reviews may have oversimplified or misstated some of the characters. Frank is not some remorseless sociopath who walks in to rob, rape and pillage. Frank is a complex person who for much of the book is caught in a vicious circle of doing wrong, experiencing tremendous pain of conscience, determining to make right what he has done, getting into difficulties, and doing wrong again to get out of a jam. At one point, he is described as a man of morality, and there is hope for him. He's not a thug; that would be Ward, the police officer's son who returns to the neighborhood to commit crimes. Helen takes a long time to realize that she isn't entirely blameless in her involvement with Frank. Whether a rape takes place is somewhat ambiguous, but Helen believes this is what happened. Helen is caught in the trap of waiting for nothing, in her own words. Frank looks better and better given the other choices she has. Morris, Helen's father, looks at his mom and pop grocery store as a prison. Morris is a victim, yet if he had made a little effort to help himself, things may have turned out better for him. He is a terrible businessman, he makes foolish decisions about his health, and he is taken advantage of by everyone. The whole family is caught in a trap by the failing store and grinding poverty that has them in a downward spiral. Morris and Ida are Russian Jews who came to America with the hope of finding something better. It appears the only thing that is better is the absence of pogroms. The people in this book are Italians, Germans, Poles, Norwegians. Today the immigrants come from different countries, but I'm willing to bet that quite a few have the same experience in this country that Morris's family did. Today it may even be worse. Aside from the characters, the author gives a wonderful description of a 1950s Brooklyn neighborhood. The reader can picture everything in such detail it's like watching a DVD in one's head. A book like this will always hold up, and I'm anxious to read more of the author's work. Finally, this novel made TIME magazine's Top 100 novels last year, which is why I picked it up.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Assistant is spelled with the letters S.A.I.N.T. [T], June 7, 2007

By	Miami Bob "Resurgent Reading" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

The word "Assistant" includes the letters S.A.I.N.T And, the person who is the assistant herein well reflects Christianity's concepts of sainthood or someone who is "born again."

A simple ground floor grocery man, Morris Bober, lives in a simple second story flat with his wife, Ida, and beautiful 23-year old daughter, Helen. Business is worsening, and while it falls, he meets Frank Alpine - an Italian goyim.

Frank works for peanuts for Morris and manages to raise the business from its ashes. Things begin to look good - but Ida's fears of a goyim living so close to her very Jewish daughter are well deserved.

Frank is not a saint by birth. Frank is an orphan who lived an abusive childhood, and he merely wants to be loved. He practically enslaves himself for Morris - partly to be loved and partly for penance. But, whatever his evil ways were, he is almost devoid of the same after meeting Morris. Malamud probably intentionally chose Frank to be Italian - and incorporates what the Roman Catholic Church associates as "being born again": baptism. Working in the grocery for Morris is Frank's baptism.

What makes this book so fascinating is the concept of rebirth after criminality. Really, criminality's born again Christianity became vogue a decade or decades after publication of this novel (1957) with the 1976 book written by Charles Colson of Watergate fame.

This insightful work on Christianity becomes even more fascinating when one considers the source - a young Jewish writer who grew up in a delicatessen with an impoverished father who is much like Morris. And, the greatest part of the rebirth arises in the end when Italian Frank - learning about Judaism - converts. He is a born again Jew.

The grocery is commonly referred to as a prison which confined Morris and later confines Frank. But, from that prison others benefit. And, most particularly we learn of the goodness of those imprisoned in poverty - something espoused by Saint Francis who is mentioned numerous times in this book.

This is a great story. This is a great book with many layers. And, this book could be assigned to religion students as well as the obvious English or literature students.