{"product_id":"the-assistant-9780374504847","title":"The Assistant","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Assistant\u003c\/i\u003e, 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLike 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"His best novel . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Assistant\u003c\/i\u003e is as tightly written as a prose poem.\" --Morris Dickstein in \u003ci\u003eLeopards in the Temple: The Transformation of American Fiction 1945-1970\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBernard Malamud\u003c\/b\u003e (1914-86) wrote eight novels; he won the Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for\u003ci\u003e The Fixer\u003c\/i\u003e, and the National Book Award for \u003ci\u003eThe Magic Barrel\u003c\/i\u003e. Born in Brooklyn, he taught for many years at Bennington College in Vermont.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50674805637394,"sku":"9780374504847","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_561aeb88-0413-4f2a-a5fc-4d6fe921d5db.jpg?v=1733865956","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-assistant-9780374504847","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}