52
PARTI SAN R EVI EW
o f a ritual murder in Cza ri st
I~u ssia ,
and
The Ti'lIallls,
a darker visio n o f
black-Jewi sh relati o ns than had been expressed sixteen years be fo re in
" An gel Levine." L3ut it is th e shorter fi cti o n , written thro ugho ut hi s li fe
that di stin gui shes him as a modern mas ter. Following
Tli e Map.ic Barrel,
th ere were three mo re collecti o ns o f sto ri es he continu ed to publi sh in
PR, COllllll elilary , th e A tlalltic, th c
NCI"
Yorker,
and o th er l1l agazin es. Some of
th ese have been furth er reprinted many times but it is o nl y now that we
have all fifty-fi ve in o ne vo lume. In
Th e CO II/piete Stories
we can even read
th e ea rli es t, whi ch appea red in coll ege magazin es in th e forti es-rea li sti c
])epressio n sto ri es typified by " Th e Groce ry Sto re" w hi ch depi cts th e
despair of th e defea ted sho pkeeper: "Eightee n ho urs a day, fj·om 6 a. m. to
midni ght, sittin g in the back of a g rocery sto re wa itin g fo r a customer to
come in fo r a bottl e of milk and a 10J f o f bread and maybe- II/aybe a can
o f sardin es." Still mi ss in g is th e shimm er of sac red m ys te ry that li ghts up
the literal in
Th e Magic Barrel.
L3ut o nce that brea kthro ugh is achi eved it
continu es to illuminate th e bes t o f hi s later wo rk. In " Idio t's First"
(1961)
Mendel, wh o is dying, is resolved to provide fo r hi s retard ed son by send–
in g him to an uncl e in C aliforni a. H e has n't th e price o f th e rail ti cket even
aft er he pawns hi s wa tch, and he is turn ed off by a ri ch man w ho tell s him ,
" Pri va te contributi o ns I don't l1l ake- only to instituti o ns... .Take him to an
institution ." A sympatheti c rabbi hands him hi s own coa t to pawn, how–
ever, and th ere is just time eno ugh to buy th e ti cket. Yet in th e stati o n the
platform ga te is closed , the train is pulling o u t, and " Gin zburg" stands
guard : " Favo rs yo u had enou gh already. Fo r yo u th e train is gone. You
shoulda bee n dead already at mi d ni ght." Mendel cri es to the angel o f dea th
(for w ho else can thi s "Gin zburg" bel), " Yo u bas tard , do n' t yo u understand
what it means human?"-and th e ga te o pens.
In
Th e COII/piele Stories
o ne can read aga in , with deli ght, "The Jewbird"
(1963),
Malamud 's fabl e about a ragged crow wh o fli es, uninvited , thro ugh
th e window o f th e apartment o f a fj·ozen- food sa lesman .
"Cel"a lt,
a
pogrom ," th e bird says as H arry Cohen whac ks at it. Th e refu gee hangs
around till it wea rs o ut its welcome, tho ugh it has entertain ed the fa mily
w ith its j okes, tu to red the schoo lboy son , and as ked o nl y fo r a bit o f her–
ring o n a crust fr om time to time. Its re lu ctant hos t, a Jewi sh
"anti -semeet," begins to persecute the j ew b ird, ex il es it to th e w intry bal–
cony o f the apartment, introdu ces a murdero us cat, and , fin all y, throws the
bird to its dea th in th e street. "Th e Silver Crown"
(1972)
is a sto ry about
an ambi guo usly supernatural miracle. Albert C ans pays a fa ith hea ler to save
hi s dying fath er by making him a mag ical hea lin g crown . A hi gh schoo l
biology teac her, an educa ted skepti c, he has no reason except desperatio n
to beli eve in the cure promi sed by the shifty, shabby o ld rabbi . H e suspects
he is being conn ed and fin all y pani cs and wa nts hi s mo ney bac k. " Think
