&sq=&lang=&file=File:The_Assistant_(1957)-Bernard_Malamud.jpg) First edition cover | |
| Author | Bernard Malamud |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Moshe Goygadosh |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 246 |
| ISBN | 0-374-50484-9 (paperback, latest edition, 2003) |
| OCLC | 734832 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3563.A4 A8 2003 |
| Preceded by | The Natural (1952) |
| Followed by | The Magic Barrel (1958) |
The Assistant is the second novel by Bernard Malamud, published in 1957. Set in a working-class neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, it explores the situation of first- and second-generation Americans in the early 1950s as experienced by three main characters and the relationships among them: an aging Jewish refugee from the Russian Empire who owns and operates a failing small grocery store; a young Italian American drifter trying to overcome a bad start in life by becoming the grocer's assistant; and the grocer's daughter, who becomes romantically involved with her father's assistant despite parental objections and misgivings of her own.
The novel was a finalist for the 1958 National Book Award for Fiction. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1997.