Vocabulary in the story

1. A Summer’s Reading
Bernard Malamud

2. Bernard Malamud
Born: April 26, 1914
Brooklyn, New York
Died March 18, 1986 (aged 71)
Manhattan, New York
Occupation Author
Nationality United States
Genres novel, short story

3. Quote by Bernard
Malamud
"Without heroes we
would all be plain
people and wouldn't
know how far we can
go."

4. A Summer’s Reading
First Published: 1956
Type of Plot: Social realism
Time of Work: The mid-twentieth century
Setting: New York City : The Bronx
Characters: George Stoyonovich, Sophie
Stoyonovich, His father,
Mr. Cattanzara
Genres: Short fiction

5. Major

6. George Stoyonovich
A nineteen-year-old high-school dropout living
aimlessly in the working-class neighborhood in
Brooklyn. He "considered registering in a night
high school" but "he did not like the idea of the
teachers always telling him what to do. He felt
they had not respected him."

7. Sophie Stoyonovich
George's elder sister, a "tall bony girl of twenty-
three" who works at a cafeteria in the Bronx.
She has to take care of the house because their
mother was dead. She sometimes reads "good
books."

8. Mr. Cattanzara
A "stocky, bald-headed man who works in a
change booth on a [subway] station," living on
the next block to George's. He reads the New
York Times "from the first page to the last"; in
short, he is the "intellectual" of the
neighborhood. Sometimes he drinks too much.

9. What is in a name?
George Stoyonovich – suggests he is from a
Yugoslavian immigrant family whereas Mr
Cattanzara’ name suggests he is from an Italian
Immigrant family.
Some people suggest that these names mean:
Cattanzara meaning "chained"
Stoyonovich meaning "stay put“
(I could not find any proof of this but it does make a good story)

10. George’s Family
Sister: Sophie works in a cafeteria
Father: Works in a Fish market
Mother : Died

11. Setting:
The Bronx
Railroad flat above butcher store
Summer

12. Interview
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/07/21/080721on_audio_hemon
Aleksandar Hemon discusses Bernard Malamud’s short
story “A Summer’s Reading” with The New Yorker’s
fiction editor, Deborah Treisman.
. “A Summer’s Reading” was published in The New
Yorker in September, 1956, and is collected in “The
Complete Stories.”

13. Vocabulary

14. Watchwords
the Bronx section of New York City
railroad flat apartment near railway
ball game base ball
world almanac mini encyclopedia
News and Mirror working class
newspaper
dough money
drifted wandered slowly

15. ashamed

16. carpentry

17. dissatisfied

18. iron railing

19. mop

20. occasional

21. on an impulse

22. to quit

23. to register

24. to resemble

25. to respect

26. sidewalk

27. sultry

28. to wander

29. worthwhile

30. got on his nerves

31. ashamed

32. carpentry

33. dissatisfied

34. iron railing

35. mop

36. occasional

37. on an impulse

38. to quit

39. to register

40. to resemble

41. to respect

42. sidewalk

43. sultry

44. to wander

45. worthwhile

46. got on his nerves

47. ashamed

48. carpentry

49. dissatisfied

50. iron railing

51. mop

52. occasional

53. on an impulse

54. to quit

55. to register

56. to resemble

57. to respect

58. sidewalk

59. sultry

60. to wander

61. worthwhile

62. got on his nerves

64. Watchwords
change booth a place where you get change
(right amount of money to pay
for the train)
New York Times serious newspaper read by
educated people
squirt small thin boy
shoot the breeze discuss something
nickel 5 cent
buck dollar
2 bits 25 cents

65. appreciate

66. approval

67. as a favor

68. drunk

69. earnestly

70. embarrassed

71. erect

72. to figure

73. to hesitate

74. regard highly

75. stocky

76. an urge

77. to whistle

78. window ledge

79. to wonder

80. appreciate

81. approval

82. as a favor

83. drunk

84. earnestly

85. embarrassed

86. erect

87. to figure

88. to hesitate

89. regard highly

90. stocky

91. an urge

92. to whistle

93. window ledge

94. to wonder

95. appreciate

96. approval

97. as a favor

98. drunk

99. earnestly

100. embarrassed

101. erect

102. to figure

103. to hesitate

104. regard highly

105. stocky

106. an urge

107. to whistle

108. window ledge

109. to wonder

111. Watchwords
beating it home running home
pick him up make him feel better
came abreast of came next to
(alongside)
shove push
passable reasonable
crumbling apart falling apart
railed at shouted at

112. annoyed

113. to budge

114. deserted

115. to feel wound up

116. invariably

117. to neglect

118. to pile up

119. sneak into

120. stifling

121. to sway

122. to be tempted

123. uncomfortable

124. unobtrusively -

125. annoyed

126. to budge

127. deserted

128. to feel wound up

129. invariably

130. to neglect

131. to pile up

132. sneak into

133. stifling

134. to sway

135. to be tempted

136. uncomfortable

137. unobtrusively

138. annoyed

139. to budge

140. deserted

141. to feel wound up

142. invariably

143. to neglect

144. to pile up

145. sneak into

146. stifling

147. to sway

148. to be tempted

149. uncomfortable

150. unobtrusively

152. accidentally

153. to admit

154. confidence

155. disgrace

156. inward

157. listless

158. rumor

159. to struggle

160. to tremble

161. wilted

162. accidentally

163. to admit

164. confidence

165. disgrace

166. inward

167. listless

168. rumor

169. to struggle

170. to tremble

171. wilted

172. accidentally

173. to admit

174. confidence

175. disgrace

176. inward

177. listless

178. rumor

179. to struggle

180. to tremble

181. wilted

182. Chronology of Events
• Nearly four years ago, George Stoyonovich had quit high
school "on an impulse" when he was sixteen.
• "This summer" [the beginning of the story] is a hard time
for jobs and George, now "close to twenty", has none.
Having no money to spend, he stays off the streets and
spends most of the day in his room. Sophie urges him to
read some "worthwhile books" but he is in no mood for
them: "Lately he couldn't stand made-up stories, they got
on his nerves."
• One evening, while on his walk, George meets Mr.
Cattanzara coming home very late from work. George tells
him that he is reading one hundred great books in the
library list. He wants Mr. Cattanzara to respect him.

183. • "After that", George does nothing different from usual
but he finds the people in the neighborhood start
calling him "a good boy." He feels himself being
respected because of the books he is not reading.
• "As the summer went on George felt in a good mood
about things." He occasionally buys paperback books
but he never gets around to reading them. Yet, "he
could could feel approval on all sides." "For a few
weeks" he talks only once with Mr. Cattanzara, who
says nothing about the books. George decides to stay
away from "the change maker."

184. • Then one night" George sees Mr. Cattanzara, a little
drunk, walking toward him. He hands a nickel to
George, saying "Go buy yourself a lemon ice, George,"
as he used to do when George was a "squirt." Asked to
name one book on the list he has read so far, George
cannot answer. After saying, "George, don't do what I
did," Mr. Cattanzara leaves.
• "The next night" George is afraid to leave his room.
Sophie finds out that his brother is not reading a single
book on the list and calls him a "bum."

185. • "One night," after staying in his room "for almost
a week" George sneaks to the park unable to
stand the heat. Unexpectedly, he finds people still
friendly to him. A man on a street corner asks
him if it is true that "he had finished reading so
many books."
• "After a couple of days," George sees Mr.
Cattanzara again. He feels that Mr. Cattanzara
"had started the rumor that he had finished all
the books."

186. • "One evening in the fall," George runs to the
library and "though he was struggling to
control an inward trembling, he easily counted
off a hundred, then sat down at a table to
read."
• http://www2.dokkyo.ac.jp/~esemi006/malamud/art/st_magic_barrel.htm#asr