The author of this short study of Bernard Malamud's Pictures of Fidelman believes that Malamud has done something very original with mental pathology in his book; that the book moves on two levels, each of which comments on and corrects the other. First, there is the portrait of Fidelman as a neurotic (obsessive-compulsive) who becomes progressively worse, more and more cut off from human contact and reality through each of the six episodes of the work. Second, there is the public world of morality and history—represented by a variety of characters (a survivor of the Holocaust, a mistress, a prostitute, and a glassblower named Beppo who may or may not save Fidelman)—that by its sheer presence reveals the inadequacy, the comedy, and the hybris of Fidelman's neurosis. The author concludes by stating that this juxtaposition of neurosis and historical context represents a very real artistic gain over an almost purely psychiatric fiction (she cites Winesburg, Ohio and Thomas Wolfe) and drama (Arthur Miller and Eugene O'Neill). In her view, Malamud uniquely fuses pathology and comedy.