The twenty-first-century revival of James Purdy continues with his classic novel of innocence and corruption.
Introduced simply as “the boy on the bench,†the titular character of Malcolm is a Candide-like figure who is picked up by the “most famous astrologer of his period†and introduced to a series of increasingly absurd characters and bizarre situations in “the most prodigiously funny book to streak across these heavy-hanging times†(Dorothy Parker).
