Two Fables
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Authors
Malamud, Bernard
Issue Date
1978
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
The two fables here, The Jewbird and Talking Horse, are set by hand in Garamond and were published by Bennington College as part of the celebrations that marked the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the College. The two pieces apparently appeared first in 1963 and 1973, respectively, and were first published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. I had been watching for a copy of Malamud's two fables for some time, and I am happy to have found this beautiful copy. The Jewbird is a story of the skinny bird Schwartz who flies into the life of the Harry Cohen family in a New York apartment. The presence of this talking bird who is running from Anti-Semites sets up all sorts of fascinating dynamics. The story does not end happily. Talking Horse is something of a Kafka Metamorphosis. The beginning of the story asks Am I a man in a horse or a horse that talks like a man? This horse/man, Abramowitz, performs in a circus act with the mute Goldberg, who wants no questions or deviations from the routine. Their circus act, paradoxically, is a series of moronic joke answers and questions called Ask Me Another. Abramowitz wants to be free and even breaks out into telling that to circus audiences, who do not know what to make of it. This piece has a happy and surprising ending.
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Publisher
Bennington College
The Banyan Press
The Banyan Press
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Identifier
3603 (Access ID)