Pictures of Fidelman: An Exhibition

Plot

Pictures of Fidelman is a series of six fairly independent tales of Arthur Fidelman, a Bronx Jew and failed painter who has traveled to Rome to write on Giotto. He seems unable to move forward with his new life nor to completely let go of his desire to be a successful painter. He bounces around Italy trying to find himself (or maybe lose himself) but never seems to accomplish either. The fifth of the stories is an attempt by Malamud at stream of consciousness (the title of the story is "Portraits of the Artist") otherwise they are typically Malamud who writes cleanly and passionately.