''The Fixer'' is a novel by

Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseba ...

published in 1966 by

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

. It won the U.S.

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

(his second)"National Book Awards – 1967"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
(With essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) and the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published durin ...

."Fiction"
''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2012-03-30. ''The Fixer'' provides a fictionalized version of the Beilis case. Menahem Mendel Beilis was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

unjustly imprisoned in Tsarist Russia. The "Beilis trial" of 1913 caused an international uproar and Beilis was acquitted by a jury. The book was adapted into a 1968 film of the same name starring

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

(Yakov Bok) who received an Oscar nomination.

Plagiarism controversy

Descendants of Mendel Beilis have long argued that in writing ''The Fixer'', Malamud plagiarized from the 1926 English edition of Beilis's memoir, ''The Story of My Sufferings''. One of Beilis's sons made such claims in correspondence to Malamud when ''The Fixer'' was first published. A 2011 edition of Beilis's memoir, co-edited by one of his grandsons, claims to identify 35 instances of plagiarism by Malamud. Responding to the allegations of plagiarism made by Beilis's descendants, Malamud's biographer Philip Davis acknowledged "some close verbal parallels" between Beilis's memoir and Malamud's novel. Davis argued, however, "When it mattered most, alamud'ssentences offered a different dimension and a deeper emotion." Jewish Studies scholar Michael Tritt has characterized the relationship between Malamud's ''The Fixer'' and Beilis's ''The Story of My Sufferings'' as one of "indebtedness and innovation".Tritt, Michael. "Mendel Beilis's ''The Story of My Sufferings'' and Malamud's ''The Fixer'': A Study of Indebtedness and Innovation", ''Modern Jewish Studies'' 13, no. 4 (Summer, 2004), p. 70

Censorship

The book was banned by the board of education of the

Island Trees Union Free School District Island Trees Union Free School District is a school district in central Nassau County on Long Island, approximately 31 miles east of New York City. The district includes parts of the following hamlets; Levittown, Bethpage, Plainedge, and ...

in New York, which was the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court case in 1982.

In popular culture

episode 7 Episode 7 may refer to: * '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens'', a 2015 film * Episode 7 (Humans series 1), 2015 episode * "Episode 7" (''Twin Peaks''), 1990 episode * "Episode 7" (''Tá ...

of ''Mad Men'' Season 5, the character

Don Draper Donald Francis Draper, born Richard “Dick” Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. Up to the Season 3 finale, Draper was creative director of fict ...

is seen reading the novel in bed and recommending it to his wife Megan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fixer, The 1966 American novels Novels about antisemitism Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning works Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire American novels adapted into films Novels by Bernard Malamud Novels set in Ukraine Novels set in Kyiv Novels set in Russia National Book Award for Fiction winning works Farrar, Straus and Giroux books Novels involved in plagiarism controversies Censored books