The Assistant

Have you ever seen “The Natural” starring Robert Redford?

Did you like it?

Me, too.

That story was written by Bernard Malamud, and he also wrote the book I read yesterday, The Assistant. Once again something on my reading list has led to the happy discovery of a wonderful storyteller. In this case he created a jewel that was published the year before I was born.

The plot evolves in New York neighborhood (again!?) with a Jewish grocer whose deli/grocery store struggles. The main characters, sixty-year-old Morris, his “all right-already” kind of wife, Ida, and a grown daughter, Helen. They live above the store, putting in long hours to keep food on the table.

Enter Frank Alpine, a young Italian who, after robbing the store, feels remorse, so he lands a job there to repay his debt. As he observes the righteous life of the grocer and recalls stories of St. Francis from his troubled past in an orphanage, he attempts to follow a morally correct life.

The story is full of pain, confession, beauty, and hope as we see Frank’s struggle against his flesh, and follow the believable character arc that leads us to agree once again, “People can indeed change.”