Magic Worlds of Bernard Malamud

240 Pages·2001·18.75 MB·English

by  Evelyn Avery

THE MAGIC WORLDS
OF BERNARD MALAMUD
SUNY SERIES IN
MODERN JEWISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE
THE MAGIC WORLDS
OF BERNARD MALAMUD
eve&n Aver.!1' editor
State University of New York Press
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2001 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The magic worlds of Bernard Malamud / Evelyn Avery, editor.
p. cm.-(SUNY series in modern Jewish literature and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-5065-1 (alk. paper)-ISBN 0-7914-5066-X (alk. paper)
1. Malamud, Bernard. 2. Novelists, American-20th century-Biography.
3. Jewish authors-United States-Biography. 4. Jewish fiction-History
and criticism. 5. Humanism in literature. 6. Jews in literature. I. Avery,
Evelyn Gross, 1940- II. Series.
PS3563.A4 Z75 2001
813'.54-dc21
[B] 2001020148
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To THE MEN IN MY LIFE
DON, PETER, AND DANIEL

CONTENTS
Preface i,x
Introduction xi
I. THE AUTHOR
Chapter 1 Malamud in Corvallis: Memories of Dad 3
Paul Malamud
Chapter 2 Recollecting Bernie 13
Colleagues at Oregon State,
Interviewed by Paul Malamud
Chapter 3 Remembrances: Bernard Malamud 25
Cynthia Ozick
Chapter 4 Malamud: Seen and Unseen 29
Daniel Stern
Chapters On The Magic Barrel 35
Nicholas Delbanco
Chapter 6 The Rhythms of Friendship in the Ufe of Art:
The Correspondence of Bernard Malamud
and Rosemarie Beck 43
Joel Salzberg
II. INDIVIDUAL WORKS
Chapter 7 America and the History of the Jews in
Bernard Malamud's "The Last Mohican" 59
Karen L. Polster
vii
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 8 Zen Buddhism and The Assistant:
A Grocery as a Training Monastery 69
Edward A. Abramson
Chapter 9 Malamud's New [Academic] Life-and Ours 87
Sanford Pinsker
Chapter 10 The Lives of Dubin 101
Walter Shear
Chapter 11 Gorilla in the Myth: Malamud's God's Grace 111
D. Mesher
III. THEMATIC THREADS: PATTERNS IN MALAMUD'S FICTION
Chapter 12 Reflections on Transmogrified Yiddish Archetypes
in Fiction by Bernard Malamud 123
S. Lillian Kremer
Chapter 13 Not True Although Truth: The Holocaust's Legacy
in Three Malamud Stories: "The German Refugee,"
"Man in the Drawer," and "The Lady of the Lake" 139
Eileen H. Watts
Chapter 14 Bernard and Juliet: Romances and Desire
in Malamud's High Art 153
Alan Cheuse
Chapter 15 Bernard Malamud and Cynthia Ozick:
Kindred Neshamas 161
Evelyn Avery
Chapter 16 Bernard Malamud and His Universal Menschen 167
Daniel Walden
Chapter 17 A Kind of Vigilance: Tropic Suspension
in Bernard Malamud's Fiction 175
Victoria Aarons
IV. ANNOTATED SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Eileen H. Watts 189
Contributors List 209
Index 213