Summary

Asher spends the summer living with Jacob Kahn and his wife, Tanya, at their home in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Asher and Kahn set up their easels on the beach dunes and paint together; as they do, Asher learns more about art from his mentor. Among other things, he learns about impressionist painting and tries to understand abstract expressionism, which is how Kahn paints in two dimensions, as Picasso did.

Asher learns to swim in Provincetown, and Kahn takes his protégé to the galleries in the area, where everyone seems to know the local artist. When Asher self-consciously tucks his payos behind his ears, Kahn criticizes him, telling Asher that artists don’t care what they look like; they only care about their art.

While he’s living with Kahn, Asher continues to be an observant Jew, fasting on Jewish holy days and reading from the...