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Friday, October 18, 1963—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-6

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Bernard Malamnd Again Emerges as One of
Greatest Writers with His Idiots First'

Bernard Malamud represents
the great phenomenon in short
story writing in this century.
When "The Assistant" first was
published he was hailed as the
master of narrative writing.
Then came "The Magic Bar-
rell," and his reputation was
established. "A New Life" and
"The Natural" supplemented
the glory of a great writer.
Now we have the superb in
writing and in narration in
"Idiots First," published by Far-
rarr, Straus and Co. (19 Union
Sq. W., NY 3).
Humor and pathos, the dig-
nity of many, the human rela-
tions that make, people a part

of life and yet distinguish them
in many spheres, are delineated
with great skill in this book of
fantastic stories.
In our day of racial strife,
"Black Is My Favorite Color"
is exceptionally well suited to
the time. It is a remarkable
tale of a craving for the colored
girl, the suspicions that lurk
in people's minds, the preju-'
dices that are so-hard to destroy
in spite of the serious effort
by those like the hero in this
story who means so well and
yet is rejected by those of an-
other color whom he desires to
help.
"Jewbird" has been ac-

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claimed as a great story. This
reviewer wishes he could
share that excitement. It is a
remarkably well written tale,
but the very theme, the talk-
ing bird's arguments with his
master, the tragic death of
the speaking bird, the un-
couthness of the arguments
go against the grain. But it
is admittedly a funny story,
and Malamud does possess a
sense of humor as well as
the ability to portray the sad-
ness in life.
Much is to be said for "The
German Refugee." This brilli-
ant piece of writing has a re-
markable plot. The refugee,
who is being trained by the
storyteller in the Malamud nar-
rative to correct his English so
that he may be able to deliver
the lectures he has been en-
gaged to give in proper style,
has suspicions of his wife he
left behind in Germany. He
labors under the delusion that
she was betraying him by claim-
ing immunity as a German. He
believed his mother-in-law was
an anti-Semite. One day the
narrator found the refugee, Os-
kar Gassner dead: he had com-
mitted suicide. He couldn't
understand why but when he
searched through his posses-
sions he found an air mail let-
ter from the mother-in-law. The
story concludes:
"She writes in a tight script
it takes me hours to decipher,
that her daughter, after Os-
kar abandons her, against
her own mother's fervent
pleas and anguish, is con-
verted to Judaism by a venge-
ful rabbi. One night the
Brown Shirts appear, and
though the mother wildly
waves her bronze crucifix in
their faces, they drag Frau
Gassner, together with the
other Jews, out of the apart-
ment house, and transport
them in lorries to a small
border town in conquered Po-
land. There, it is rumored,
she is shot in the head and
topples into an open tank
ditch, with the naked Jew
ish men, their wives and chil-
dren, and some Polish sol-
diers, and a handful of gyp-
sies."
With great simplicity, Mala-
mud wrote a tale marked by
tragedy, and the reader, like
the narrator, understands the
suicide now that the wife's role
is revealed !
Several of the stories in
"Idiots First" deal with Jewish
themes, some are with Italian
backgrounds, and two are told
in the first person. In every
instance there is an original
and a very strong plot, there
is humor, powerful narration
and a style that holds the read-
er glued to the book until all
of the contents are read.
There are 12 stories in all,
and combined they form a mas-
terful work. Each story is like
a novelette. Each theme is a
part of life. With "Idiots First"
Bernard Malamud once again
is on the scene as one of Amer-
ica's greatest writers.

Victims Demand
Ouster of Ex-Nazis
from Public Jobs

MUNICH, (JTA) — A resolu-
tion demanding that the West
German government remove all
former Nazis from public em-
ployment and proceed more
vigorously with the apprehen-
sion and prosecution of war
criminals, was adopted at a pil-
grimage to the site of the
Belsen concentration camp by
more than 3,000 Nazi victims.
Among those addressing the
gathering were the secretary-
general of the Jewish members
of the French underground dur-
ing the Second World War and
the chairman of a group of
former Nazi victims in Ger-
many.

W. Germany to Air Controversial Play

FRANKFURT, (JTA)—"The World War II, will be given
D e p u t y," the controversial two radio performances. The
play will be broadcast over a
drama which charges that the network
originating here on
late Pope Pius XII kept silent Oct. 21, and will be repeated
while Hitler was trying to an- over the local radio station 10
nihilate European Jewry during days later.

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