The Complete Stories (FSG Classics)

Bernard Melamud has the ability to write like no other, and he can project such feeling about the Jewish culture that the reader becomes so familiar with. The stories are sweet, tender, quiet, easily paced. They deal with many aspects of the Jewish community hardships, loves, struggles, friendship, propriety, accomplishments, loneliness, self-sacrifice, victims, hatred, etc. You can begin to read Malamud stories and become enthralled with the storyline and furthermore, you can always put a face to his interesting and very strong characters. Malamud can touch on satirical, parable, spiritual, allegorical, etc. He is considered a master of the short story, one of the best. The stories display a unique distinction. If you have not read any of his prized writings, start with The Assistant, 1957; The Natural 1952; The Tenants 1971, and the Prize Winning The Fixer 1966. And with the Short Stories, you simply have more engaging wonderful stories out of Bernard Malamud Malamud died in 1986, his father owned a grocery store, Oftentimes his writing covers in depth the small time workings of the grocery store, especially for The Assistant. There are many themes for this great anthology, a wonderful reading experience....Rizzo

Bernard Malamud is not only the master of the short story form, but is unique in his presentation of the American Jewish experience, idiom and psychology. Any insight into American Jewishness in the 20th century is incomplete without a reading of Malamud. Additionally, his use of language is psychologically accurate and so interesting. This collection is a wonderful resource.

"This is a good book." I think that says it best. It is long. I have forgotten much of it in the months since I read it. Even at that, it took me a while to get through the reading of it, but the book lends itself to that sort of discovery. The stories are mostly short, the themes are consistent and sympathetic. This is a good book. You can read it for a half an hour and walk away from it for a few days. Malamud clearly understands the work of writing. I'd fall short of calling him a master. His technique is good. His technique is very good, but I'm not sure he has the vision to be truly great writer. The things I like most about it are have nothing to do with memorable selections, wisdom, or elegance. The book actually has few of those things which makes my four star review rather remarkable. Malamud is such a literary technician that he makes up for these failures, and that is a thing to experience. He moves a story along. He creates a great depth of character with only a few little snapshots. His voices have a sound. His New York has a smell and a character. It is a thing of interest just to look back over these stories just to see how he accomplishes so much with so little. They provide a good view into the mechanism of story-telling, and that is precisely because they fail really to have very much else to them. They are mostly very simple stories. He makes a few artistic leaps, which are more than awkward, but mostly he writes stories. They are good stories. The second thing I really liked about this book was it's historical perspective. Malamud is so single minded and grounded in his time that what you get here is a cross-section of Jewish/American culture from the first World War on into the late 70's. As the generations shift, the stories also shift and the city changes with them. In these stories Malamud is inextricably bound up with his place in time. What this books amounts to is a witness of that place. This is something that I found myself dwelling over, even after the stories had faded. This book has a lot to offer. I think you should get it. It's a good book.

When I was in College, on the required reading list was a book entitled "The Assistant" by Bernard Malamud. I found the book to be extremely well written and showed the cross relationships of two culturally different people who had to relate to each other closely each day. That being said, after reading many of his books and short stories now, that theme has been prevalent in much of his work. He makes these subjects enthralling and captures the reader. The essence of most, but not all (i.e. "The Natural") of his stories has a strong Jewish leaning and he seems to graphically draw characters of other cultures (even Jewish subcultures) into conflicting and reconciling situations in forceful ways, always grasping the reader's attention. I have read a number of his short stories over the years and found them to extremely entertaining, if not educational. This book includes all of them and is a real treasure trove, especially on a Kindle. Why? Because it's great to have one of Malamud's short stories to read between books!

so happy i bought this book enjoying the short story format . i can read two stories a day the stories are of such personal nature in my opinion . very reflective each and every one. . his stories rank right up there two my favorite authors of all time paul bowles and john fante .

It has not been easy to find the complete stories of Bernard Malamud. I enjoyed reading most of them 4 decades ago, but until I got this compilation, I had not gone back to them. They are even better than what I remembered. Malamud proves to be an exceedingly sharp observer of immigrant Jewish life in America - before the move to the suburbs and the deracination of much of what made these Jews Jewish. It is therefore more important than ever that he be read and discussed by the new generations of Jews, and that his fine style be enjoyed.

Great stories, eminently readable, replete with delicious moral wisdom.

Malamud has written many, many stories, and since this collection is arranged chronologically it allows the reader to chart his development as a writer over the years. There are some classics of American literature here--Angel Levine, The Magic Barrel, and The Jewbird among others. As a voice of the Jewish experience in America, as well as the generations who lived hopelessly in Europe before coming here, Malamud has few equals.