THE ASSISTANT

New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1957. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Very Good/About Very Good. Malamud's scarce second novel features Morris Bober, neighborhood grocer, his family and customers, and Frank Alpine, the assistant he hires after being robbed who steals from him and falls in love with his daughter; Advance Review Copy with publisher's slip requesting two copies of the critic's review laid in (the reviewer or previous owner glued the slip to the fep but over the years the glue dried out and the slip came free, leaving stains on fep and back of slip); bottom of spine and lower edge of the boards show minimal shelf wear, with a small, hard-to-spot stain at the bottom of spine; also a dime-sized, light brown stain at the top edge of pages 27-29, just barely noticeable on 30 and 31, o/w boards and text are clean, tight, square; the dustjacket is somewhat edgeworn, with minor chipping at corners and chipping and small tears at the spine ends; about two inches at bottom of spine is stained with some loss of color; some light soiling to dj's white back panel, o/w dj is basically clean and whole (Photos are available. I try to provide an accurate description, which, in this case, probably sounds worse than the reality -- a more than presentable copy of a scarce, collectable book.).