Janna Malamud Smith

My Father is a Book: A Memoir of Bernard Malamud
"Candid yet sensitive, this memoir by clinical social worker Smith exquisitely captures "the particular psychic pleasure and confusion" of being the daughter of novelist/short-story writer Bernard Malamud... the portrait here reveals mutual affection and commitment...Above all, Smith enhances our understanding of how the larger themes of Malamud's fiction mirror his concern with imperfect people balancing moral responsibility against the desire to transcend pitiless circumstance. The author amply demonstrates that she has inherited her father's unblinking moral scrutiny and sympathy for the yearning heart." - Kirkus Reviews

Private Matters: In Defense of the
Personal Life
(Hardcover: Addison Wesley, 1997: Updated Paperback: Seal Press, 2003)

A New York Times “Notable Book” for 1997. Private Matters explores privacy, particularly as it affects human freedom, dignity and creativity. Various chapters look at privacy and the press, privacy and the presidency, privacy and sexuality, privacy and psychotherapy. The paperback addition features a new chapter on privacy post - 9/11.

A Potent Spell: Mother Love and the
Power of Fear
(Houghton Mifflin, 2003; paperback, Mariner, 2004)

A New York Times “Summer Book” for 2003. "A fervent examination of the powerful, visceral anxiety of mothers for their children's lives and welfare, and of its exploitation by experts and authorities."