Before his brain began to shrink, barney panofsky clung to two cherished beliefs. Life was absurd, and nobody truly understood anybody else. Even his friends tend to agree that barney is a 'wife-ab, an intellectual fraud...Before his brain began to shrink, barney panofsky clung to two cherished beliefs. Life was absurd, and nobody truly understood anybody else. Even his friends tend to agree that barney is a 'wife-ab, an intellectual fraud, a purveyor of pap, a drunk with a penchant for violence and probably a murderer'.