"From the small crossed window of his room above the stable in the brickyard, Yakov Bok saw people in their long overcoats running somewhere early that morning, everybody in the same direction."
--
The Fixer by Bernard Malamud.
Based on a true story,
The Fixer is the story of a Russian Jew in Tsarist Russia who was unjustly accused of murdering a Christian boy. It won the 1966
Pulitzer Prize and
National Book Award and I am trying to read the books on both of these lists. I keep putting off
The Fixer because I have been unable to work up enthusiasm for a book this grim. To spur me into reading it, I made it the "
double dipper" choice for my
Battle of the Prizes Challenge.
Now that I have started it, I am sucked in. Even though this will end in tears, Malamud is such a masterful storyteller, I am completely absorbed by Yakov's tragic tale.
How exciting! Bookforum today mentioned and linked my Internet Review of Books review of Wall Street by Steve Fraser.
