Download or read book Malcolm: A Comic Novel written by James Purdy and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-04-13 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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).