Who is Joshua Cohen in the novel, Book of Numbers?

Joshua Cohen (a fictionalized, slightly older version of the author to whom this guide will refer as Cohen the Narrator to avoid confusion) directly tells the reader that he is writing “a memoir, of course – half bio, half autobio” of another man, who is later introduced as another Joshua Cohen (5). The other Cohen is referred to as “Principal” throughout the narrative, which is a term that biography writers use to refer to their subjects.