Fima
Amos Oz
Harcourt
<br><p>In Oz's new novel (after To Know a Woman , LJ 2/1/91), brilliant, pathetic, naive, dyspeptic Efraim (Fima) Nisan wanders through his Jerusalem life like an irritating shopper in a department store. Fima published a highly regarded book of poems in his salad days but has since lapsed into a dreary existence of intellectual and political quarreling; his brilliance gets on everyone's nerves almost as much as his inability to manage his life properly. He now works as a receptionist at a gynecological clinic and has puzzling affairs with women whose husbands have lost interest in them. Throughout the book, Fima makes plans to see a Jean Gabin film, but when he finally gets to the theater, it has come and gone. Oz uses his protagonist's arguments and fantasies of becoming prime minister to convey the confused and confusing mixture of political and personal life in his homeland. A fine work by one of Israel's best writers.<br><br></p>