Rembrandt's Hat

Plot

This collection of Malamud short stories features two very long stories, "The Silver Crown" which is about a young teacher's search for a miracle cure for a father dying of cancer, and 'Man in the Drawer ' which is about a visiting American writer's meeting with a Soviet writer who requests from him help in publication in his work. The title story 'Rembrandt's Hat' deals with the strange quarrel which develops between a scupltor and art critic when the latter comments on a new hat the sculptor has put on. In all these stories the Malamudean quite observation of inner moral dilemna is present. The humor, irony and complexity within human relationships are portrayed with a stunning exactitude. And the conclusions, the ends of the stories have a kind of difficult indefiniteness which often marks Malamud's ending.