THE FIXER: Tells the moving tale of Yakov Bok, a handyman--a "fixer, " who lives a modest life in a small Russian town, surrounded by conflict, injustice, and prejudice. Beset by anxiety and the brutal forces of a hostile government that conspire to degrade him, he struggles against overwhelming odds toward moral victory. THE NATURAL: Tells the story of Roy Hobbs, a small-town ball player hurled into the big league by his own awesome talent. Hobbs is a hero with the world at his feet. He's the American Dream personified--a natural. It seems that everything is coming together from him--the game he loves and the woman he thought had slipped away. But when he is confronted by corruption, he's got to win the most challenging game of all. THE ASSISTANT: Chronicles the desperate passions of Frank Alpine, an Italian-American searching for an identity and a place in society. He works hard in a small grocery store run by a struggling Jewish family in a down and out Brooklyn neighborhood. He finds himself falling in love with his boss's daughter, whose own desires have been unsatisfied. From these simple elements Malamud creates a moving story of crime, love, and universal significance.