Based in part on the life of baseball legend Ty Cobb, this book belongs in the The Complete Stories of Bernard Malamud brings together all of Malamud's The Natural, published in 1952, is Bernard Malamud's first novel and one that is sometimes considered to sit rather uneasily with his subsequent body ofThe classical novel (and basis for the acclaimed film starring Robert Redford) now in a new edition. Introduction by Kevin Baker The Natural, Bernard The Natural by Bernard Malamud. This sports novel follows the career of baseball player Roy Hobbs, a natural with a bat whose dreams of playing in the big