Bernard Malamud's short story The Magic Barrel takes place in uptown New York and is centered around Leo Finkle, a rabbinical student who is about to be ordained. In hopes that being married may help him win over a congregation, Finkle solicits the help of a marriage broker by the name of Pinye Salzman. Salzman presents Leo with card after card each representing a potential marriage candidate. The number of possible suitors is so great that Salzman claims to have a barrel filled with these cards. After having rejected women based on such things as limps and widow status, Leo reluctantly agrees to meet a woman named Lily Hirschorn. During their encounter, Lily asks a seemingly simple question, "When did you become enamored of God?" This question stirs the depths of Leo's soul and makes him realize that he does not, in...