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| The Magic Barrel: Stories | 
 enlarge | Author: Bernard Malamud
Creator: Jhumpa Lahiri
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy Used: $1.44
You Save: $11.56 (89%)
New (27) Used (25) Collectible (2) from $1.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 576049
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 232
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0374525862
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780374525866
ASIN: 0374525862
Publication Date: July 7, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: bent pages, stain on side
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| Customer Reviews:
 Impressive character development but mostly morbid. February 2, 2004
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
"The Magic Barrel" was a collection of stories that intrigued me, if only for the whimsical sounding name. I was disappointed, however, to find that the stories themselves were themselves not whimsical in the least. Malamud has created a world where paranoia is abundant, and worse, where poor, lackadaisical decisions are abound equally. There are no winners in any of Malamuds stories. I found myself becoming angry at the characters, for the way in which they responded to conflicts was alarmingly pathetic. His character development is strong, however, and I did enjoy maybe one or two of the stories until I found the ending rather dreary. If a literary work is "sad," that is not a deterrant for me. Malamud's characters, on the other hand, are hopeless. I can't seem to enjoy reading about people who operate in such ways.
BORING! October 6, 2004
1 out of 12 found this review helpful
I would suggest before sitting down to read this book that you brew a large pot of coffee. Or better yet, don't sit down to read it at all. This is dry stuff!
 Magic Malamud December 1, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Malamud does three or four tricks in his fiction well, and here he does each one to utter perfection. And when taken together, this collection of stories almost transcends Malamud's normal limits: the stories are compressed, short, and below the surface, charged with almost unbearable tension. Unlike other collections of stories (or when you read too many Malamud stories) Malamud does not parody himself in the Magic Barrell. Everything is where it is supposed to be, and works like a well oiled machine. It is a shame that (as of writing this) only eight people have reviewed this masterpiece of a short story collection. In Roth's The Ghost Writer, Zuckerman explains that the world's morality has already passed by the E.I. Lonoff's (a character based on Malamud). Seems Roth was correct... and this is true even more today, thirty years after the publication of The Ghost Writer. We no longer live in Malamud's world, and it is a shame.
Simple, powerful stories December 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It was such a pleasure to read these stories. Each story grabs you quickly, and makes its narative thrust accessible. His stories don't stray from his simple narratives; there is very little excess or digression.
The stories are very personal and moral without being preachy. He knows how to capture people's moral ambivalence without judging them or resorting to stereotypes.
I found this book to be both an easy read and very moving.
 Strange.... May 9, 2004
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a very strange book. There are a lot of small messages that Mr. Malamud delivers in each of his stories. Everything from the mistreatment of others to stealing. He covers many different aspects of life that can help make people better citizens of the world.
I did not enjoy his style of writing though. It was dull, and very dry. There was no excitment in any of his stories and I found it hard to keep myself reading. I can see how somebody else might enjoy it though... if you're the type that likes dull, dry stories, Malamud is the guy for you.
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