SOURCE: Benson, Jackson J. “An Introduction: Bernard Malamud and the Haunting of America.” In The Fiction of Bernard Malamud, edited by Richard Astro and Jackson J. Benson, pp. 13-41. Corvallis, Oreg.: Oregon State University Press, 1977.

In the following essay, Benson argues that Malamud is a traditional American writer.

I. Moo Day for Malamud

Oregon in April is a big country of wet, green valleys and snow-laden mountains. As an event, this conference should have been a Western. The participants are all professionals, hired guns brought in from out of the East, Midwest, and California via United Airlines and Hertz, for the shootout at the O.S.U. student union.

When you hit a strange town the night before a showdown, you find a saloon and tell a few lies. But the motel lounge has more people in leisure suits than Levis, and the band is playing soft rock...