Balaam “B.” Rosenberger Rosenberg

Balaam Rosenberger Rosenberg is the novel’s narrator and protagonist. He prefers to be referred to simply as “B.” At the beginning of the novel, he is a film critic in his late fifties. He is divorced and has an adult daughter. B. is quite vain and conceited. He believes himself to be extremely intelligent and socially progressive. However, his inner thoughts reflect many aspects of racism, sexism, and other prejudices. Towards the beginning of the story, he goes to St. Augustine, Florida for a film research project. There, he discovers—and becomes fascinated with—a film created by a completely unknown artist named Ingo Cutbirth. B. is the only one to ever see the film, and the film subsequently becomes lost in a fire.

B. returns to New York City and commits himself to trying to remember the film in perfect detail. He employs...