The Assistant

New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. 1957. First Edition. Hardcover. [minor shelfwear, spine slightly turned, one-time owner's address label on front endpaper; the jacket is a little faded at the spine, with some modest wear at the edges and extremities, and mild age-toning]. Malamud's second novel, "the story of Morris Bober, neighborhood grocer, who 'wants better' for himself and his family, but his fate is his luck -- not good." First he gets robbed in his store and suffers a bad head injury; then things get worse with the arrival of a guy with a sketchy background, who offers to work as his assistant without pay, (truncated) but soon progresses to stealing from the till and struggling with his attraction to Morris's wife. . (Inventory #: 29843)