There are some fine stories in this book. The collection is great for any scholar of Malamud, or anyone who just can't get enough of Malamud's short fiction. However, the unfinished novel "The People" should have never been published. It's a sketch at best. Malamud wouldn't have wanted it published, and so it shouldn't have been. This book acts as though it has a posthumous novel of Malamud's, but it doesn't. "The People" is disappointing, and jumps all over the place. There was really no point in publishing it.