Why did I feel confident enough to guess the ending? Because the story is painfully obvious. The story - and the outcome - are evident immediately after the first few pages. A struggling Jewish grocer is robbed, but one of the robbers has a conscience and clandestinely comes back to the store to work off the damage. We aren't told this in these exact words until page fifty or so, but it's obvious as soon as we see the character of Frank Alpine. Here is a character that is engaged in Deep Moral Struggle. Since this is a predictable book, all that is necessary to find out the remainder of the plot is to ask a few questions: Will Frank gather enough self-control to become a decent person (Y/N)? Will the store do better with him around (Y/N)? Will he fall in love with the grocer's daughter (Y/N)? And so on, and so forth. It was with a sinking heart that I guessed the beginnng and the ending, and then beheld the two hundred pages in between. What else could possibly happen? Read on.

In those two hundren-odd pages, the book turns into the absolutely sappiest melodrama ever written. To be sure, "The Assistant" lacks a main conflict. Yes, the store is a shambles; yes, these people have been slaving away for nothing; yes, they live in poverty; yes, they're Jews. Those themes almost never surface. Instead, Malamud fills space with the most contrived, cliche mini-conflicts imaginable. I'll leave it up to you to find out what they are, but each of those conflicts is written like it is the end of the world. Of course, it can't be, since there's still 2/3 of the book to go, but the characters gnash and lament like there's no tomorrow anyway. Malamud frantically stitches viewpoint characters, often three times in a single page, to illustrate their grief from all perspectives. Rule #1: the author can only cry "wolf" so many times before it loses punch. It took us four "Scream" movies to get this down. Of course, Malamud predates "Scream". The book reminds me of a scene from a Simpsons Halloween special, where Homer purchases a birthday present from an occult curio store (shades of Matheson's short story "Prey"). The toy is evil. "That's bad", Homer replies. But it comes with a free frozen yogurt! "That's good!" The yogurt is also evil. "That's bad." But it comes with your choice of toppings! "That's good!" The toppings contain potassium benzoate. Homer stares stupidly. "That's bad," the clerk helps him out.

The book wouldn't have been as bad if the characters were more solid. The grocer and his wife are stereotypes: Morris is gruff but forgiving, while Ida is the precursor of every strict Jewish mother that ever was. Frank, on the other hand, is a walking collection of human traits that are only loosely connected. He's street-smart and ruthless, both patient and impatient, a gentleman and an animal, frigid and lustful, caring and obscene, both with and without a conscience. He's so diffuse that the reader cannot identify with him.

"The Assistant" cannot choose one of its numerous running themes to center on. It tugs the reader this way and that. Characters fall in love, and break up, and fall in love again. Malamud throws so many things at the reader, that after a while the only effect of reading the book is a dull heartache.


Tough, Gritty Fiction   May 27, 2001
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

As I recall, this was a pretty good book. It is not the most readable novel featuring a pretty ordinary story filled with pretty unextraordinary characters. However, I liked the way it was delivered - tough, realistic, rarely embellished. It tells the story of a Jewish grocer's relationship with an Italian thug in Brooklyn. I read with the same feeling I might have of my own daily life. Every inflatable theme is curbed by sober reality - friendship, love, sex, marriage, crime, duty, "redemption." A recommended read.


A book that reaches your heart through your mind   December 12, 2000
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

As a teacher of literature for 23 years, I have watched students from age 16 to 80 become fully engaged with The Assistant. After they finish, they feel fulfilled, uplifted, enlightened, and even (God forbid!) more knowledgeable. The main characters -- Morris, a modest Jewish grocery store owner in New York, and Frank, a young Italian hoodlum trying to change into a mensch--steal your heart away. Of course, Malamud is never sentimental. He uses your mind to reach into your heart. It's not just Frank who changes for the better in this book; it's all who read it well.


This story stays with you   June 18, 2000
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Absolutely wonderful-a literary classic. Rich, real characters that come to life on the page. Funny, human, moving. You won't forget this story and you'll be so glad you read it. Mink has told all her friends to read it and most have. Those who refuse have been warned.