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


THE ASSISTANT ENDURES   August 16, 2001
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

As an author with my debut novel in its initial release, I hope my work endures as well as the work of Bernard Malamud. THE ASSISTANT is a simple novel that captures perfectly its time and place. It is also a morality tale. It features a street thrug named Frank Alpine who thinks he might want to turn his life around. He takes a job at a Mom and Pop grocery store to privately atone for a crime against that store (as well as other crimes elsewhere). He agrees to work for room-and-board. There is ethnic tension between the Jewish grocery store owners and the Italian criminal. These tensions grow more severe when a romance develops between Frank and the grocer's daughter. This novel comes as close to being perfect as any I've read in recent years.