Malamud, Bernard : Idiots First

Literature Annotations

Genre	Short Story (13 pp.)
Keywords	Aging, Disability, Mental Retardation, Parenthood, Survival
Summary	This is a story of parental love and sacrifice and of survival in a hostile world. Mendel, a poor widower who has raised a retarded son, has fought life for years. Now he is fighting death (personified as a burley bearded man named Ginzburg). Mendel’s last task is to assure safe train passage for his son, Isaac, to the boy’s eighty-three-year-old uncle in California. This Mendel accomplishes after scraping enough money together and after winning a final heroic battle with Ginzburg.
Commentary	There is an Academy Award-winning documentary film, Best Boy by Ira Wohl, that features the struggles of the parents of a 52-year-old retarded man, Philly. The film covers a three-year period during which Philly moves from his parents’ home to a group home. (See annotation).
Source	Idiots First
Publisher	Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Edition	1963
Place Published	New York
Annotated by	Kohn, Martin
Date of Entry	05/10/94
Last Revised	08/29/06