BERNARD MALAMUD (1914-86) is considered a modern master of the short story ranked with Chekhov and Isaac Babel. The Complete Stories of Bernard Malamud brings together all of Malamud's published stories--from the classic early story "The Magic Barrel " in which he refashioned the American short story in the Yiddish-infected idiom of his boyhood to later works such as "Rembrandt's Hat" and "Alma Redeemed ' which dramatize the relationship between life and art with matchless intensity and dark comedy. These fifty-three stories are full of the searching eloquence that characterizes this beloved American writer. Contents: Armistice -- Spring rain -- The grocery store -- Benefit performance -- The place is different now -- Steady customer -- The literary life of Laban Goldman -- The cost of living -- The prison -- The first seven years -- The death of me -- The bill -- The loan -- A confession of murder -- Riding pants -- The girl of my dreams -- The magic barrel -- The mourners -- Angel Levine -- A summer's reading -- Take pity -- The elevator -- An apology -- The last Mohican -- The lady of the lake -- Behold the key -- The maid's shoes -- Idiots first -- Still life -- Suppose a wedding -- Life is better than death -- The jewbird -- Black is my favorite color -- Naked nude -- The German refugee -- A choice of profession -- A pimp's revenge -- Man in the drawer -- My son the murderer -- Pictures of the artist -- An exorcism -- Glass blower of Venice -- God's wrath -- Talking horse -- The letter -- The silver crown -- Notes from a lady at a dinner party -- In retirement -- Rembrandt's hat -- A wig -- The model -- A lost grave -- Zora's noise -- In Kew Gardens -- Alms redeemed.
