Bernard Malamud, one of America's most important novelists and short-story writers, was born in Brooklyn in 1914. He took his B.A. degree at the City College of New York and his M.A. at Colombia University. From 1940 to 1949 he taught in various New York schools, and then joined the staff of Oregon State University, where he stayed until 1961. Thereafter, he taught at Bennington State College, Vermont. His remarkable, and uncharacteristic first novel, The Natural, appeared in 1952. Malamud received international acclaim with the publication of The Assistant (1957, winner of the Rosenthal Award and the Daroff Memorial Award). His other works include The Magic Barrel (1958, winner of the National Book Award), Idiots First (1963, short stories), The Fixer (1966, winner of a second National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize), Pictures of Fidelman (1969), The Tenants (1971), Rembrandt's Hat (1973, short stories), Dubin's Lives (1979) and God's Grace (1982). Bernard Malamud was made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, USA, in 1964, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1967, and won a major Italian award, the Premio Mondello, in 1985. Benard Malamud died in 1986.
A delightful piece of work, and it shows a major artist's mastery of his medium... Fidelman is a superb picaresque hero, and the novel is always entertaining, often hilariously so Sunday Times The accent of a hard-won and individual emotional truth is always heard in Malamud's words. He is a rich original of the first rank. -- Saul Bellow In Mr Malamud we may indeed salute a new American writer of power and originality. He has a wonderful sense of character and atmosphere Daily Telegraph One of the best writers in the English language... His work embeds itself in one's consciousness and refuses to be dislodged Sunday Times