The Imperfectionists
Release date: 2011 / 304 pages
Synopsis (from Amazon.com): Printing presses whirr, ashtrays smolder, and the endearing complexity of humanity plays out in Tom Rachman’s debut novel, The Imperfectionists. Set against the backdrop of a fictional English-language newspaper based in Rome, it begins as a celebration of the beloved and endangered role of newspapers and the original 24/7 news cycle… The chaos of the newsroom becomes a stage for characters unified by a common thread of circumstance, with each chapter presenting an affecting look into the life of a different player.
First Sentence: “Lloyd shoves off the bedcovers and hurries to the front door in white underwear and black socks.”
Review: What a gift to read one of the best of my year on December 9th! My new book club chose Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists as our first selection, and I was going to wait until we had discussed it on January 9th to publish my review, but I just enjoyed it too much to wait…
The structure is refreshingly original — a series of interrelated vignettes about various members of a newspaper staff, interspersed with short summaries of the timeline of the history of the paper (ugh). Each section is incredibly fast-paced. I read this during the first week of a new teaching term, with an impending visit from my mother and three-year-old niece, so time was a valuable commodity. I would sit down to “just read one section” and find 100 pages had flown by.
Rachman manages to bring each character to life in just a few paragraphs and even the most unlikeable individuals are strangely sympathetic. I will admit, since this was a book club selection that I would not be discussing for a month — with a new book club filled with neighbors I have not yet met — I did take notes and was glad. Characters who seem insignificant in one section are highlighted in another, so I appreciated being able to quickly unravel the spiderweb of relationships.
This is a work that I wanted to continue indefinitely — and I almost wish I had only read one section per day to draw it out. Rachman’s prose made me realize how little “literary fiction” I had read in 2011 — and how much I missed it. Here are a few lines that caught my eye:
“He doesn’t call. She wants to scream. But this is how he is: easygoing, which means tough-going for everyone else.” (65)
“He glances at the sorry trio of copy editors before him: Dave Belling, a simpleton far too cheerful to compose a decent headline; Ed Rance, who wears a white ponytail — what more need one say?; and Ruby Zaga, who is sure the entire staff is plotting against her, and is correct.” (77)
A scent catches the basset hound’s attention and he jumps toward a urin-drizzled tussock of grass. He pulls this way, wrenches that, braiding Oliver into ever more intricate tangles. ‘I’m beginning to think,’ Oliver says, ‘that the leash is here largely for irony.’” (251)
I strongly recommend this to every reader and believe it will be an excellent choice for a book club.
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Adding this to my TBR list – thanks for the review!