Malamud's second novel, "The Assistant" (1957), set in New York and drawing on Malamud's own childhood, is an account of the life of Morris Bober, a Jewish immigrant who owns a grocery store in Brooklyn. Although he is struggling financially, Bober takes in a drifter of dubious character. This novel was quickly followed by "The Magic Barrel," his first published collection of short stories (1958). It won Malamud the first of two National Book Awards that he received in his lifetime.