My Father Is a Book: A Memoir of Bernard Malamud

by Janna Malamud Smith

On the twentieth anniversary of Bernard Malamud's death, Janna Malamud Smith explores her renowned father's life and literary legacy. Malamud was among the most brilliant novelists of his era, the author of the Pulitzer Prize winner The Fixer, as well as The Natural and The Assistant -- named one of the best "100 All-Time Novels" by Time. He counted among his friends Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Theodore Roethke, and Shirley Jackson. Yet Malamud was also very private. Only his family has had full access to his personal papers, including revealing letters and journals that offer unique insight into the man and his work. In her candid, evocative, and loving memoir, his daughter brings Malamud to vivid life as no one else can.

Bernard Malamud, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, grew up in Brooklyn in a home overshadowed by poverty and mental illness. Unable to earn a living in New York, he took a teaching position in Oregon and moved his young family there. For Janna, it was an idyllic time and place. Her father was warm, funny, and passionate about his writing, which was gaining national attention. In 1961, an appointment to Bennington College brought the Malamuds back east and right into the middle of the heady, often hilarious free-for-all that was campus life in that radically changing time. But Bennington’s anything-goes atmosphere and Malamud’s growing fame came at a price to his his deep belief that one should live morally crashed into his premise that one should live fully.

Janna Malamud Smith speaks as only a daughter can of a fraught relationship with an adored father. In glowing praise of My Father Is a Book, Susan Cheever -- who also wrote memorably of her own father, John Cheever -- says, "This loving portrait of a writer's family from the inside describes good times and difficulties with affection and candor and provides a fascinating backstory for Malamud's great fiction."

Genres: Memoir, The United States Of America, Biography

290 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2006

About the author

Janna Malamud Smith is a practicing psychotherapist and the acclaimed author of four books, including An Absorbing Errand: How Artists and Craftsmen Make Their Way to Creative Mastery, My Father is a Book: A Memoir of Bernard Malamud; A Potent Spell: Mother Love and the Power of Fear; and Private Matters: In Defense of the Personal Life. Her titles have been New York Times Notable Books and she has been interviewed about her work on top national broadcast media. Her newly published book, An Absorbing Errand: How Artists and Craftsmen Make Their Way to Creative Mastery, examines the psychological obstacles and fears that prevent aspiring and established artists from building a sustainable, nurturing, and realistic creative practice against the background of how many of today's hot button topics, including social media, technology, the recession, sexuality, and identity, impact the creative process. For more information on Janna Malamud Smith, please visit: www.jannamalamudsmith.com

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was OK for me, so I am giving it two stars. I did learn from it and I do not regret reading it, but I wanted more, it is poorly organized and I prefer when the author of a biography is outside the family circle. Bernard Malamud: A Writer's Life was not available to me; it came out one year after My Father Is a Book, written by the author's daughter. Bernard Malamud was a private man and had not wanted a biography to be written. I suppose this explains the lack of biographies. It is stated in the author's Dubin's Lives “There is no life that can be recaptured wholly.....which is to say that all biography is ultimately fiction." This states the author’s view. Anyhow, I read what was available to me.

I learned interesting details about Bernard Malamud’s life and of shared experiences with his daughter. There is information about his brothers’, his parents’, his wife’s and her parents´ lives too. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Kiev. His wife was Roman Catholic and of Italian background. Schizophrenia, discrimination and poor living conditions had to be contended with. You come to understand what the man wanted to do with his life, as well as why and how. Missteps are noted, as well as successes. Malamud’s books are about people trying to live a moral life, but stumble along the way. Much like himself.

The book relates how events in Malamud's life are mirrored in his books. I feel it is important to have at least read The Assistant(4 stars), A New Life (3 stars)and The Fixer (4 stars). I have put my rating beside each. I intend on reading more. The author expresses himself well, better than his daughter. She just does not have his flair. We are told of his work routine and of the time and effort he invested in each book before publication. His view is that the success of his books has been due to 10% talent and 90% hard work.

As a member of the family it is difficult for an author to impartially view family events. Janna, the author of this book, was as a child very close to her father. When her father had extramarital affairs, it is very difficult to ask of her to fairly represent how her father and mother felt, or even herself for that matter. We are given the facts but not the emotions. I do not feel I have come to understand their complicated father - daughter relationship, except perhaps as a young child. I have learned little about family dynamics, other than who did what and who held the subservient position. We are told what happens, but there is no exploration of the respective family members' feelings.

The book is not well organized. From the beginning, who is who in the family is not clearly explained. One jumps around between different events, different dates and different family members. In the beginning, this is particularly confusing. Further confusion is caused by an unclear usage of pronouns. I would have to backtrack to figure out whose opinion was being voiced. "I" was used and I didn't know who that I was until I could surmise from further information who it had to be. Jumping back and forth also leads to repetition.

The book relies heavily on private letters between Bernard and his friends, colleagues and lovers. Some of the information provided is superfluous, and the book concludes with appendices which relate for a second time what we previously have been told.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Teri Clark Linden. The reading is uneven. In parts, it is totally fine and not hard to follow. In other parts, it is as if each word is spoken one-at-a-time; the words simply do not flow naturally. The reading improves as you reach the end. In fact, the appendices are read best! I have given the narration two stars, because yeah sure it was OK, but nothing fabulous.

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

i've always very much liked malamud's short stories. this biography written by his daughter looks are his life from tyke in flatbush to international known novelist. she uses many of his letters to and from, his girlfriends, his children and wife, his colleagues. not a typical biography, author janna uses her memories along with psychoanalytical expertise to try and "figure" pop out. has end notes, an appendix of malamuds friends from early life, but no index , no pictures. a fast read, an intimate look at malamud.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bernard Malamud ended up being kind of a douche. But wrote some great books. And had an interesting journey from Brooklyn to Oregon to VT where he found a beautiful place to pluck some fruits of the coed variety.

[Stan Klein]

excellent book on many levels. dealing with a famous parent. living in their wake. your life as potential material for their art. i worked for one of her father's friends and had their perspective to add to hers of life in bennington.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and very moving. This book is filled with lots of names of other literary folks/artists etc.
Loved it.

[Sunita · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were bits of insight into Bernard Malamud's process of transmuting life into art, and for every aspiring writer who wants to know these secrets there are some. As for understanding the father daughter relationship, despite the author's goal of sticking closely to the facts, the overall picture that emerges of their relationship feels unformed or hazy. No great leaps were made that took our understanding beyond the discrete events and her impressions of these events. The details of course do paint a picture that her father's perfect prose arose from the deepest of human flaws, and that her daughter's life would inevitably be shaped by both.

[Jessica Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The layout of the book doesn't seem consistent. Chapter 2 seems to be the start of an outlined story. Chapter 1 is more of a forward of story clips. I enjoyed the interesting perspective of growing up as the child of a successful writer, in a two religion home, and the enlightening history of family mental illness that affected their choices. I did go out and find some of his works.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written account of her father, the famous Jewish author. I lowe how she interweaves their shared lies and how it was reflected in his literature. If only more biographies were this good!

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Vincent DiGirolamo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, poignant, inspiring story of how a man tries to live a moral life, do right by his demanding family, and yet devote himself to his art.