"I think it hurts a writer," said fiction writer Bernard Malamud, "to have his secrets known--his method of working disclosed while he is still active." Malamud was, according to his colleagues Alan Cheuse and Nicholas Delbanco (the editors of Talking Horse), "resolutely private about the construction of his finished work." Maybe so. But over a lifetime, he wrote an impressive amount of material about his own work, and about fiction in general. Talking Horse collects much of that material--speeches, book introductions, interviews, lesson plans, essays, and more. Included here are notes on The Natural, a defense of fantasy, musings on the great task of embarking on a novel, and a discussion about Jewishness in American fiction. Though most fiction writers see the short story as a warm-up for writing longer fiction, Malamud loved the form. "Within a dozen or few more pages," he said, "whole lives are implied and even understood." He displays here, by turns, endearing humility ("it took years for my work to impress me"), a piercing intellect, disdain for "gossips" who want to know the person behind the fiction, and a strong belief not only that the work must speak for itself, but that there is likely "more to a book or short story than the writer himself knows." A very satisfying collection from a man who liked to claim that "as a writer I learned from Charlie Chaplin." --Jane Steinberg


From Publishers Weekly
Novelists Cheuse (The Light Possessed) and Delbanco (In the Name of Mercy) have assembled an impressive gathering of the late Malamud's essays, interviews, lectures and notes, a good number of which have never before been published. The collection reveals the author of The Natural and many other books as a dedicated craftsman and teacher, firmly connected to a larger Jewish literary tradition and animated by a deep-seated humanism and a sly wit. In addition to admirers of Malamud's fiction, this book should also be of considerable interest to aspiring writers, as Malamud is open and revealing about his own creative process, and consistently engaging in his often politicized and outspoken views on the artist's role in society. The book's biggest weakness lies in the fact that it is clearly a gathering of disparate occasional pieces, with considerable repetition. Malamud often uses the same examples to make the same point, sometimes almost quoting himself word for word. And while his comments on his own work and on the creative process are enduring, some of his comments on the cultural moment already feel dated. While readers may find themselves wishing the author himself had been given the opportunity to form these pieces into a larger whole, the collection is nevertheless filled with Malamud's distinctive and compassionate wisdom. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
This collection of interviews, speeches, lectures, notes, and essays, many of them never before published, will inspire and challenge all readers, especially those interested in the craft of writing. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and two National Book Awards, novelist Malamud (1914-86) is best known for The Natural (1952), The Assistant (1957), and The Fixer (1966), as well as for a number of short stories. During his lifetime he revealed little of his writing process, making this collection particularly valuable. Editors Cheuse, a commentator for National Public Radio, and Delbanco, a novelist whose works include In the Name of Mercy (LJ 8/95), were colleagues and friends of Malamud at Bennington College. Their introduction and notes at the beginning of each section add biographical facts and personal anecdotes. Of particular note is Malamud's revelation of his source material and ruminations when beginning a work, permitting us to glimpse a novel or short story's birth. In the discussion of "The Writer and His Craft," he offers valuable, detailed advice for the beginning writer, stressing that hard work must accompany natural talent. Recommended especially for students of writing.Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at GeneseoCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Sensible reflections on the writer's life from a modest master of postwar fiction. While widely respected and, thanks to the popular success of The Natural (1952), more widely read than many of his contemporaries, the novelist and short-story writer Bernard Malamud (191486) has remained a somewhat enigmatic figure. As editors Cheuse (The Light Possessed, 1990. etc.) and Delbanco (In the Name of Mercy, 1995, etc.) explain in their loving commentaries, Malamud was a private man, not known for blowing his own horn. He did, however, produce a significant body of reflections on literature, the craft of writing, and his own experiences, now gathered in this agreeable volume. Malamud's best pieces explore the singularities of his formation. In a lecture at Bennington College in 1984, Malamud recollects his long apprenticeship as a high school teacher and as a professor at Oregon State University. In a Paris Review interview he covers this territory in more discursive fashion, interspersing some subtle yet striking remarks about his works. Having called his novel Pictures of Fidelman ``a book about finding a vocation,'' Malamud wryly asks the reader to ``forgive the soft impeachment.'' But essay-length enjoinders to young writers to ``take chances'' become extended clich‚s. Still, clich‚s can have their virtues, and Malamud's have the not inconsiderable virtue of integrity. This quality shines through when Malamud considers his own life experience, for instance, from the perspective of his relation to his Jewish identity. It shines as well in a pair of addresses, given when Malamud served as president of the PEN American Center, which forcefully make the case for the importance of writing as a humanistic, civilizing endeavor. In such pieces, the quiet moral courage at the heart of Malamud's work, his stubborn devotion to the integrity of an artist's unique, individual vision, are thrown into bold relief, reminding us of how much we miss that humane, modest, intelligent voice. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


From Book News, Inc.
The author of such acclaimed novels as The Fixer and The Natural was intensely private about the way he worked. This collection includes speeches, interviews, lesson plans, essays, and a series of previously unpublished notes on the nature of fiction, all of which offer an intimate look at the writing life. Each section includes headnotes by the editors. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.


Publishers Weekly
An impressive gathering of the late Malamud's essays, interviews, lectures and notes. . . . In addition to admirers of Malamud's fiction, this book should also be of considerable interest to aspiring writers, as Malamud is open and revealing about his own creative process, and consistently engaging in his often politicized and outspoken views on the artist's role in society.


Review
An impressive gathering of the late Malamud's essays, interviews, lectures and notes. . . . In addition to admirers of Malamud's fiction, this book should also be of considerable interest to aspiring writers, as Malamud is open and revealing about his own creative process, and consistently engaging in his often politicized and outspoken views on the artist's role in society.


Book Description
Designed to provide writers with insights into the way a master thinks about and practices his craft, this collection includes discussions of the novel, the short story, subject matter, work in progress, revision, and the Jewish experience. Malamud also discusses the responsibilities of the writer.


About the Author
ALAN CHEUSE is the book commentator for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." NICHOLAS DELBANCO directs the Hopwood Awards program and the MFA in writing program at the University of Michigan.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Bernard Malamud, author of such acclaimed novels as The Fixer and The Natural and winner of two National Book Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, is widely recognized as one of the most important and enduring of American writers. Yet because he was intensely private about the way he worked, few readers are aware of his extraordinarily prolific expression of his commitment to the writing process. Including a wealth of never-before-published material, Talking Horse is designed to provide writers with insights into the way a master thought about and practiced his craft. This unique collection includes speeches, interviews, lesson plans, essays, and a series of previously unpublished notes on the nature of fiction, all of which offer an unparalleled look at the writing life. Each section of the book includes a headnote by Nicholas Delbanco or Alan Cheuse.

SYNOPSIS

Designed to provide writers with insights into the way a master thinks about and practices his craft, this collection includes discussions of the novel, the short story, subject matter, work in progress, revision, and the Jewish experience. Malamud also discusses the responsibilities of the writer.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Novelists Cheuse (The Light Possessed) and Delbanco (In the Name of Mercy) have assembled an impressive gathering of the late Malamud's essays, interviews, lectures and notes, a good number of which have never before been published. The collection reveals the author of The Natural and many other books as a dedicated craftsman and teacher, firmly connected to a larger Jewish literary tradition and animated by a deep-seated humanism and a sly wit. In addition to admirers of Malamud's fiction, this book should also be of considerable interest to aspiring writers, as Malamud is open and revealing about his own creative process, and consistently engaging in his often politicized and outspoken views on the artist's role in society. The book's biggest weakness lies in the fact that it is clearly a gathering of disparate occasional pieces, with considerable repetition. Malamud often uses the same examples to make the same point, sometimes almost quoting himself word for word. And while his comments on his own work and on the creative process are enduring, some of his comments on the cultural moment already feel dated. While readers may find themselves wishing the author himself had been given the opportunity to form these pieces into a larger whole, the collection is nevertheless filled with Malamud's distinctive and compassionate wisdom. (May)

Library Journal

This collection of interviews, speeches, lectures, notes, and essays, many of them never before published, will inspire and challenge all readers, especially those interested in the craft of writing. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and two National Book Awards, novelist Malamud (1914-86) is best known for The Natural (1952), The Assistant (1957), and The Fixer (1966), as well as for a number of short stories. During his lifetime he revealed little of his writing process, making this collection particularly valuable. Editors Cheuse, a commentator for National Public Radio, and Delbanco, a novelist whose works include In the Name of Mercy (LJ 8/95), were colleagues and friends of Malamud at Bennington College. Their introduction and notes at the beginning of each section add biographical facts and personal anecdotes. Of particular note is Malamud's revelation of his source material and ruminations when beginning a work, permitting us to glimpse a novel or short story's birth. In the discussion of "The Writer and His Craft," he offers valuable, detailed advice for the beginning writer, stressing that hard work must accompany natural talent. Recommended especially for students of writing.-Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo

Booknews

The author of such acclaimed novels as The Fixer and The Natural was intensely private about the way he worked. This collection includes speeches, interviews, lesson plans, essays, and a series of previously unpublished notes on the nature of fiction, all of which offer an intimate look at the writing life. Each section includes headnotes by the editors. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kirkus Reviews

Sensible reflections on the writer's life from a modest master of postwar fiction.

While widely respected and, thanks to the popular success of The Natural (1952), more widely read than many of his contemporaries, the novelist and short-story writer Bernard Malamud (191486) has remained a somewhat enigmatic figure. As editors Cheuse (The Light Possessed, 1990. etc.) and Delbanco (In the Name of Mercy, 1995, etc.) explain in their loving commentaries, Malamud was a private man, not known for blowing his own horn. He did, however, produce a significant body of reflections on literature, the craft of writing, and his own experiences, now gathered in this agreeable volume. Malamud's best pieces explore the singularities of his formation. In a lecture at Bennington College in 1984, Malamud recollects his long apprenticeship as a high school teacher and as a professor at Oregon State University. In a Paris Review interview he covers this territory in more discursive fashion, interspersing some subtle yet striking remarks about his works. Having called his novel Pictures of Fidelman "a book about finding a vocation," Malamud wryly asks the reader to "forgive the soft impeachment." But essay-length enjoinders to young writers to "take chances" become extended clichés. Still, clichés can have their virtues, and Malamud's have the not inconsiderable virtue of integrity. This quality shines through when Malamud considers his own life experience, for instance, from the perspective of his relation to his Jewish identity. It shines as well in a pair of addresses, given when Malamud served as president of the PEN American Center, which forcefully make the case for the importance of writing as a humanistic, civilizing endeavor.

In such pieces, the quiet moral courage at the heart of Malamud's work, his stubborn devotion to the integrity of an artist's unique, individual vision, are thrown into bold relief, reminding us of how much we miss that humane, modest, intelligent voice.