Is considered a modern master of the short story, ranked with chekhov and isaac babel. Brings together all Of Malamud's published stories--from the classic early story "The magic barrel," In which he refashioned the Amer...Is considered a modern master of the short story, ranked with chekhov and isaac babel. Brings together all Of Malamud's published stories--from the classic early story "The magic barrel," In which he refashioned the American short story in the yiddish-infected idiom of his boyhood, to later works such as "Rembrandt's hat" And "Alma redeemed,' which dramatize the relationship between life and art with matchless intensity and dark comedy.