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The Imperfectionists

by Tom Rachman

3.55 · rating details · 10,872 ratings · 2,788 reviews

One of most acclaimed books of the year, Tom Rachman’s debut novel follows the topsy-turvy private lives of the reporters and editors of an English-language newspaper in Rome.

ebook, 246 pages

Published April 6th 2010 by Random House Publishing Group (first published January 26th 2010)

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Apr 22, 2010

Cynthia rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

This is an intriguing book though disconcerting. It’s set in the present or recent past at an English newspaper produced in Italy. As Elizabeth Strout did in “Olive Kitteridge”, last year’s Pulitzer winner, each story or chapter is seen through a different person’s viewpoint. In “Kitteridge” the theme was Olive and how others perceived her or she perceived them. In “The Imperfectionists” the paper is the common denominator. All the stories are the viewpoint of a Staffer.

Interspe...more

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Sep 14, 2011

K.D. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: The New York Times 100 Best Novels of 2010

Shelves: first-novel, tragicomic, new-york-times, drama, humour

The Imperfectionists is perfect. At least for my taste. You may have a different opinion about this book, but for me, it is just way above the many other books I've read. It is entertaining. It is thought-provoking. It is heart-wrenching. It is funny. It is informative. It has everything I am looking for a contemporary fiction novel.

This book was one of the 100 Best Books in 2010 according to The New York Times. That and the very encouraging blurbs on both covers of the book made me ...more

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Jun 26, 2010

Katie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, adult-books

I don't read a lot of books that aren't written for teenagers, but I read the reviews and the jacket on this one, and decided it sounded too good to pass up. Just a little over 24 hours later, I have finished reading it, and I am so glad it caught my eye.

This novel is a series of interconnected stories about the staff members of an English-language newspaper published in Rome. Each character's chapter begins with a headline and ends with a flashback to a significant moment in the ne...moreI don't read a lot of books that aren't written for teenagers, but I read the reviews and the jacket on this one, and decided it sounded too good to pass up. Just a little over 24 hours later, I have finished reading it, and I am so glad it caught my eye.

This novel is a series of interconnected stories about the staff members of an English-language newspaper published in Rome. Each character's chapter begins with a headline and ends with a flashback to a significant moment in the newspaper's history. Though the atmosphere and history of the paper are important, and I enjoyed those sections between chapters, the truly brilliant aspect of this book is the characterization. Each and every staff member depicted throughout the story is a fully-developed three-dimensional human being. Each of them has such a specific life, and relationships with layers, complications, and in many cases, heartbreak. I loved all of them instantly, even the ones I thought I should hate, and I was impressed, as the book wore on, with how fresh everything still seemed 125, 150, 200 pages in. Rachman's writing is both extremely readable and extremely well-crafted, which is not often true of literary fiction. Often it's one or the other, but to have both, and to see it done so well was very satisfying.

The highlights for me were the relationship between publisher Oliver Ott and his dog Schopenhauer, stringer Warren Cheung's encounter with the strangely manipulative and carefree Snyder, reader Ornella's obsession with reading the paper in its entirety no matter how long it takes, and Herman Cohen's friendship with Jimmy, who has not become the man Herman expected him to be. This book made me consider the private lives of the people I have worked with, and caused me to wonder what people go home to when they leave work at night, and whether we could look at people the same way if we knew.

This book is just absolutely fantastic, and I can't wait for Tom Rachman to write his second novel. Highly recommended.(less)

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Jun 03, 2010

Will rated it

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This just in, Tom Rachman has given readers an exceptional set of stories about the birth and death of a newspaper, populated these tales with engaging characters and done so with great style and feeling.

The core here is a Rome-based English-language international newspaper. Rachman follows it from its inception in the 1950s to its 21st century demise. The story of this paper is the story of the people it touches, from founder to Obits editor, from editor in chief to Cairo stringer....more

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Apr 24, 2010

Maryann rated it

The first reviews of this book made me eager to plunge in, but I was so disappointed that I withdrew my suggestion to nominate it for our book club! I said to myself at least twice while reading this, "I hate this book." In the last 50 pages, I found some enjoyable sequences, especially the air plane ride between Abbey and the man she had just fired. Other than that story, it was not very enjoyable reading, unless perhaps one works for a newspaper and enjoys the personalities in that ...more

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Jan 30, 2011

Chance rated it

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Unlike a newspaper's human interest stories, which provide a glossy, manipulative look at the private lives of normal people, this book has a real interest in humans, albeit fictional ones. You see characters from multiple perspectives across the vignettes. There's no over-arching plot, just a series of articles. Just like in a newspaper. Quirky character Ornella de Montericchi, reader of the newspaper at the center of this book, "never learned the techniques of newspaper reading, so took i...more

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Jun 22, 2010

Rachel rated it

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Shelves: crap

This isn't the worst thing I've read this year. Rachman, over and over again, convinced me to care about his characters and their relationships. I can't agree with Goodreads's assessment that the interspersed chapters on the history of the paper are dull; I found them warm and subtle. Neither, however, can I agree that Rachman "creates a diverse cast of fully realized characters." They may have diverse physical descriptions, but all speak with exactly the same voice. He even has one c...more

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Aug 25, 2011

Marialyce rated it

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Shelves: august-2011-books, 2011-group-reads, sept-2011

It was a bit hard for me initially to get into this story but eventually I was able to enjoy the various characters that were together in the newspaper world that Rachman created. This was the author's first book, and he did a fine job writing of an Italian newspaper that is having a hard time staying afloat.

The book follows some quirky people who work for the paper from the guy who writes obituaries to a crazy war correspondent, who you just had to love he was so manipulative, to the...more

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Feb 03, 2011

Susann rated it

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Recommended to Susann by: Sheila

Shelves: idlewild

**warning: somewhat spoilerish**
Interwoven stories about the staff at an English-language newspaper in Rome. At the start, I was impressed with Rachman's story-portraits and finished the first few chapters breathless for the next one. But the characters' all too human flaws gradually laid me low, until I wondered if and worried that we're all as sad-lonely-desperate-petty-conniving-selfish-cruel as these people are. I feel sorry for each character, some with sympathy and others with just pi...more

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Sep 23, 2010

Pei Pei rated it

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Shelves: american, contemporary, international, acs-book-club, short-stories

I enjoyed the first two stories in this book, but as I kept reading I lost interest. The book couldn't seem to make up its mind about what it wanted to be. As separate stories, it was uneven. I enjoyed some stories and laughed and paused thoughtfully at surprising moments, but many of the stories weren't strong enough to stand alone; the dialogue was sometimes cringeworthy and actually seemed to get worse as the book progressed (the same is true, I think, of the general quality of the stories). ...more

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May 21, 2010

Alana rated it

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Shelves: 2010_12_december, reviewed

So... I'm telling you now that my sudden and vehement dislike of Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists is totally irrational and cannot be defended with any argument that paints me as a level-headed reviewer. Up until approximately five pages from the end of the novel, I would have given this a three-and-a-half-out-of-five star review... not necessarily because I enjoyed every single moment of the novel, but because I thought it was an interesting look at the fascinating and rather endangered indu...moreSo... I'm telling you now that my sudden and vehement dislike of Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists is totally irrational and cannot be defended with any argument that paints me as a level-headed reviewer. Up until approximately five pages from the end of the novel, I would have given this a three-and-a-half-out-of-five star review... not necessarily because I enjoyed every single moment of the novel, but because I thought it was an interesting look at the fascinating and rather endangered industry of newspaper publication.

Then a dog was killed and I'm sorry, but I immediately experienced a flash-back to my six-year-old self, uncontrollably sobbing because a story I was reading started with the drowning of a kitten. It's a horrific, staggering moment and I started to worry that I might actually cry into my scarf, standing on the subway in rush hour, attracting covert glances from other winter-clad commuters, while some child in a stroller would stage whisper, "Mommy, why is that lady crying?" Thankfully, I held it together, but my ability to enjoy any part of the novel had vanished.

My significant other laughed at me when I said this, then realized I was serious, but I yield to you the same points I yielded to him. Yes, I understand that the author didn't actually kill a real-life dog. Yes, I understand that the killing of the dog is supposed to be a horrific and heart-breaking moment (even if it's totally unnecessary). No, the act of killing the dog was not itself described, but rather, simply the fact/means of it stated. But because it was in there at all, my opinion of the book plummeted and I just cannot recommend this to anyone in good conscience. You see what I mean? It doesn't matter for me that up until then, I was thinking mildly positive things about the work. I know this is ludicrous and I know that I can read about people dying without batting an eyelash. Kids can die and I wince (like any normal person), but there's just a line a writer can't cross for each one of us and mine happens to be furry. I'm a terrible, unacceptably biased reviewer and I'm sorry.

The Imperfectionists, aside from being a novel where a dog is murdered, focuses on the employees of an English-language newspaper based out of Rome. The newspaper in the present day is clearly failing, but the employees trudge on, putting out the paper every day under increasing amounts of stress. Told in a series of snapshot stories that each focus on a different person, the stories weave through their lives to show private agonies and professional failures. There's very little happiness here (though perhaps a few small victories are recounted) as we read about the editors, publishers, and reporters that have had their lives changed by the paper. It covers the entire lifespan of the paper -- from its founding after World War II to its modern-day closure -- and while most of the characters live in the present time, there are short glimpses back at the lives of its previous employees.

While reading The Imperfectionists, I found myself recalling Joshua Ferris's And Then We Come to the End, another novel that follows several employees of a company that's going under. Even before the dog incident, I would say I far preferred And Then We Come to the End, and I'm betting that Rachman had read that one. Ferris is a far better writer than Rachman, who I felt relied rather heavily on the emotions stirred simply by the facts of the situation -- the decline of newspapers (which most, if not all, literate people are somewhat saddened by) and job loss. The writing itself seemed on the more positive side of mediocre (inoffensive? passable?), but still made me feel that this novel was overwhelmingly over-rated in the praise I've seen bandied about.

What The Imperfectionists *does* have is the benefit of being set in Rome. Having been in Rome a few months ago, I was pleased by the frequent mentions of specific places and neighborhoods, which allowed me to remember the twisting streets and odious traffic. I was surprised no mention was made of vespas. Given that this is a novel where it's clear things will Not End Well, it's to be expected that the tone will be relatively serious -- though there are several funny moments, even if they are often of the black humor or cringe-worthy variety. These are not happy people, by and large, and the turmoil in their lives both inside and outside of the office reflects this. A large number of tragic things happen in the course of the novel (tragic things are, after all, much more newsworthy than happy things), though they usually consist of what would be private gossip and never something printable (save for a few individual deaths). Children die, relationships are shattered, betrayals are engineered, and tempers are lost... the last item happening practically on every page. There's a pervading sense of loss... lost leads, stories, and profits... lost loves, friends, and children... lost innocence, lost opportunities, and lost dreams... and, of course, lost jobs.

Unless you're the wallowing type, I wouldn't recommend this for anyone who's recently lost a job. Nor would I really recommend this as a great "set in Italy" novel, though I did enjoy the conjuration of the city. And, it might go without saying, I wouldn't recommend this to those who are overly-sensitive to violence against animals. (It really just comes in out of the blue, folks. I'm not this crazy all the time.) If you have none of these problems and you can overlook the so-so writing, then I hope that you enjoy the novel, as it shows a certain amount of promise on the part of Tom Rachman. (Though perhaps I'm thinking that because the novel's already been optioned by Brad Pitt and that certainly can't hurt one's career.) The Imperfectionists inspires thought (even if I can't quite call it "thoughtful") and has glints of wry humor that keep the reader afloat in this portrait of a declining industry... I just wish the loyal, harmless dog would have made it to a really nice farm where he could chase rabbits.(less)

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May 14, 2010

Christina rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Journalists and former journalists

Recommended to Christina by: A few journalism blogs

Shelves: fiction, journalism, satire

Christopher Buckley and lots of other journalists and former journalists have been giving Tom Rachman's debut novel rave reviews.

I'm not really sure if it's earned them.

I think Buckley et. al. just like the book because it's about journalists. And journalists love reading books about journalists - especially when those books mock the people we spend most of our time bitching about. Rachman's book tells the stories of the obnoxious copy editor, the spinster reporter who da...moreChristopher Buckley and lots of other journalists and former journalists have been giving Tom Rachman's debut novel rave reviews.

I'm not really sure if it's earned them.

I think Buckley et. al. just like the book because it's about journalists. And journalists love reading books about journalists - especially when those books mock the people we spend most of our time bitching about. Rachman's book tells the stories of the obnoxious copy editor, the spinster reporter who dates losers who take advantage of him/her, the useless guy who sits in the corner, the ambitious bitchy chick (I think I'm this one), the people who manage the paper's finances. If you've worked at a newspaper, you know who I'm talking about; every newsroom's got 'em.

I think Rachman missed a few, like the good-natured office idiot who survives stupid mistakes and lay-offs becuase he's so nice no one wants to fire him, the loud-mouth idiot with stupid Post-Its on his desk (like "fowl = birds/foul = not birds"... yes, I knew a guy with that Post-It), the photographer who only photographs pretty girls, the reporter/photographer who sleeps with/makes out with everyone in the newsroom, the ambiguously gay guy whose sexuality everyone obsesses over and the ad reps who spend more time gossiping in the office than selling ads. Again, you know who I'm talking about; every newsroom's got at least a few of these.

"The Imperfectionists" also follows the rise and fall of the particular paper - an English-language paper published in Rome - where the characters work.

I know the novel is intended as a novel, but it reads more like a collection of short stories.

I know the novel is intended as satire, but I didn't really think it was funny. It certainly wasn't as funny as Evelyn Waugh's "Scoop."

It's practically impossible to ignore the way Rachman humanizes each of the newsroom types. The obnoxious copy editor is obnoxious because his best friend continually lets him down. The spinster reporter dates losers because she has low self-esteem and doesn't think anyone else wants her. The useless guy has more important things in his life, but ceases to be useless when he loses them. The ambitious bitchy editor is bitchy primarily because she let her ambitions get in the way of her happiness because she thought she would be happy once she achieved what she wanted. (I'm definitely this chick.) The chick who manages the finances... well, she's as much of a bitch as we think she is. But you still have to feel a little bad for her.

And it was also impossible to ignore the way the characters blame each other - and the way Rachman seems to blame all - for the downfall of the paper. Corporate won't give the newsroom enough money to do what it needs to do. The ad reps don't sell enough ads. The newsroom characters balk against the idea of a Web site.

I liked it. But I'm a journalist.

I don't know if other people - people who have not worked in news - will appreciate it. I don't think they will.(less)

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Mar 13, 2011

Ruth Seeley rated it

· review of another edition

The notion of a narrative told from multiple points of view (although technically it's all one third-person omniscient narrator) is exciting to me, but can't say I thought Rachman pulled it off here. I was bored; found it a bit of a chore to finish; wasn't entranced by any of his characters or blown away by the way their lives intertwined. Parts of it were just silly (e.g. the paper's editor's lover's mother who 'had never learned to read a newspaper' and so was only up to reading the news from ...more

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Mar 24, 2011

Christy rated it

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Shelves: best-2011

Really? I'm surprised that the average rating for this is 3.5. When I first started reading it, I wasn't aware that each chapter would chronicle one of the people working at the paper, so I was a bit confused. I caught on after the second one and got completely absorbed. I can't say I've read a book this HUMAN in a long time. Each one of the characters was whacked out in some totally believable way, yet I could relate to each of them in some weird way. I loved the inner dialogue of some of...more

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Feb 21, 2011

John rated it

Shelves: ebooks, library_books

Quite well-written, indeed the characters were about as diversified as it gets (although no explicitly gay ones, just a coyly implied closet case). I would've given a fourth star, but it's just so damned consistently grim; a couple of the stories have happy endings, but the rest are pretty much downers. I confess I didn't read the italicized backstory between each chapter, of the paper's founding, at all.

Recommended as something to read here-and-there, not straight through.

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May 12, 2011

Tayde Del Rio rated it

· review of another edition

Indispensable para aquel que conozca esas emociones al límite que sólo se viven en la redacción de un periódico.

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Aug 03, 2011

Layla Strohl added it · review of another edition

To say I enjoyed this book would be a great understatement. I I loved this book. Tom Rachman's characters come to life in this amazing debut novel that revolves around the 50 year span of a small international, English-language daily newspaper located in Rome. Over the span of fifty years we meet the founder and publisher Leo Ott, a rich businessman with a passion to have the paper succeed despite having a family back in the States. We meet copy editor Ruby Zaga, who despite 2o years of service ...more

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Oct 05, 2011

Elizabeth rated it

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The structure of this book was unusual. I really enjoyed it. From Amazon: 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. Yet Rachman pushes beyond nostalgia by crafting an apologue that better resembles a moder...more

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Oct 02, 2011

Kate rated it

· review of another edition

The writing is gorgeous, and the story is beyond impressive from a structural standpoint. I read this voraciously, every night for three or four nights, and it stayed with me during the workday. For instance: At an unbearable office lunch, someone asked for pickles on the side. I said: "Pickle? Speaking of Pickle... [So-and-so,] have you read The Imperfectionists yet?" The one who reads said no; the rest of the table, who do not read, glanced at my second head with disdain.

...more

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Sep 23, 2011

Annette rated it

Picked this up as a "Real Simple" possible book club selection - just sounded so different. A collection of intertwining short stories.
The story's setting is a failing English language newspaper based in Rome. Although the characters work with and know each other - no one really knows their co-workers. Each chapter is a different story but other characters are mentioned. At the end of each chapter is the story of the paper's original founder and how it changed through his fa...more

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Sep 20, 2011

Susan rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: journalists and other depressives

i would probably have liked the book better if I hadn't chosen it because of its humor. If you're looking for a story of self-sabotaging workaholics who, for the most part, can only be trusted to put out a good paper, this is your book.

I think the point of the book is that we tend to work hard at our jobs to the exclusion of personal satisfaction. We do this just either because we're stuck in a rut or we think we can use the job as a stepping stone for our ambition. But no matter how...more

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Sep 04, 2011

George Pence rated it

· review of another edition

One of the two or three best books I've read over the last few years. It's strength is not so much derived from plot as it is from exquisite character development set in the context of a newspaper's creation, its life and eventual demise.

By turns "The Imperfectionists" is humorous, touching, sad and insightful. The newspaper serves as the novel's unifying element, but each succeeding character study reads like a self-contained short story. Many of these personality sketches ...more

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Aug 20, 2011

Lane rated it

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Recommended to Lane by: Jane

Shelves: like-a-collection-of-short-stories

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the device where each chapter was about a different character from the same foreign newspaper...provided a great variety of perspectives and covered a broad spectrum of stories.

Of course, that was the point of this book: enjoying all the stories. Thought Rachmaninov did a fine job; I definitely cared for (nearly) all of the characters he created.

Note: another terrific book where each chapter...more

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Aug 13, 2011

Andrew rated it

· review of another edition

But, thankfully, Snyder isn’t interested in fact-checking. ‘How many places have I reported from now?’ he says. ‘Can’t remember. Like, sixty-three? I’m including countries that don’t exist anymore. Is that allowed? Whatever. It’s just a number, right? How many you up to?’

‘Not that many.’

‘Like, fifty?’

‘Ten, maybe.’ Winston hasn’t even visited ten countries.

‘Ten versus sixty-three. I doubt they’ll take that into consideration when filling this job.’ He smirk...moreBut, thankfully, Snyder isn’t interested in fact-checking. ‘How many places have I reported from now?’ he says. ‘Can’t remember. Like, sixty-three? I’m including countries that don’t exist anymore. Is that allowed? Whatever. It’s just a number, right? How many you up to?’

‘Not that many.’

‘Like, fifty?’

‘Ten, maybe.’ Winston hasn’t even visited ten countries.

‘Ten versus sixty-three. I doubt they’ll take that into consideration when filling this job.’ He smirks.

‘This is a full job, then? Menzies said in his email that it was just a stringer position.’

‘Is that what they told you?’ He snorts. ‘Sonsabitches.’

***

Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists is both a love letter to the very idea of a newspaper and a lament to the passing of its time. It is also a heart-warming, occasionally funny, often maddening dissection of the personalities—stereotypes and naked icons of a sort—behind the black and white headlines that are few and far between in the digital age.

Through twelve interconnected narratives—eleven chapters and a twelfth story that reveals the history of the paper via end of chapter codas—The Imperfectionists is the story, from beginning to bittersweet end, of an English-language newspaper situated in Rome. Each chapter is from the perspective of another member of the paper’s masthead: from obituary writer Arthur Gopal to the overwhelming quirk of copy editor Ruby Zaga and the unfortunate steward of the paper’s eleventh hour, reluctant publisher Oliver Ott. The chapters follow a linear progression, bit-by-bit revealing the details behind lives only hinted at in certain chapters, and following-up with those discussed in depth early on in the later days of the paper’s existence. Though Rachman writes a direct line through these personalities with the life of the paper as the narrative’s true focus, the structure is not dissimilar to the approach taken by Jennifer Egan in A Visit from the Goon Squad—using interconnected short stories to create a novel-length mosaic. It’s an effective tactic, one I’d like to see more often and in more creative ways.

There’s an underlying sadness to almost all of the personalities in the book—whether it is Lloyd’s inability to find a story or come to terms with the changes in technology that is reflected in the disaffection he feels from his own children, or the way in which Menzies, mistrusted and talked about behind his back by several at the paper, snaps when the one piece of fantasy he has held onto for so much of his life is brought crashing into reality, and without his permission, every character in The Imperfectionists is broken and outmoded. Their lives are reflected in the failure of print media in the digital age. None are willing to give up their respective ghosts, both in terms of career and the manner in which they conduct their lives. In this way, there is a certain level of arrogance on display in many of these stories, as one by one they put up fronts to disguise their inability to accept change and the challenges therein. Snyder, the cocky-beyond-words walking stereotype of a war correspondent, is a living encapsulation of all their faults, their willingness to ignore the aging of the world around them—because they don’t matter any more, and what they report carries less and less of the weight it once did. How media is delivered matters as much these days as what is being said—being the first out of the gate trumps all. The staff of the paper, however good their intentions, exist in the past, forever trying to catch up while playing a different game entirely. And like Ornella De Monterecchi, their most loyal reader, catching up with the future is sometimes more than one newspaper can handle.

The Imperfectionists is a delight. Though some characters might emit a bit of a “me too” vibe when compared with stereotypes of the high-strung, no-time-for-complete-sentences newsroom junkies we’ve come to see personified in the media, none wear that cap to their detriment. Instead, Rachman puts these stereotypes on display in order to dismantle them for our edification—something he does with great pleasure. (less)

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Aug 01, 2011

Davina Busted rated it

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Boy, did I struggle with this novel! It received such rave reviews, and the author Tom Rachman is from Vancouver, which made me really want to love it - and I do, sort of. The Imperfectionists is a collection of vignettes about editors who work at a failing international newspaper in Rome. They're all, without exception, unhappy to varying degrees.

First, let's say that I admire Rachman's economy with language, how he's able to paint such finely tuned portraits without descending int...moreBoy, did I struggle with this novel! It received such rave reviews, and the author Tom Rachman is from Vancouver, which made me really want to love it - and I do, sort of. The Imperfectionists is a collection of vignettes about editors who work at a failing international newspaper in Rome. They're all, without exception, unhappy to varying degrees.

First, let's say that I admire Rachman's economy with language, how he's able to paint such finely tuned portraits without descending into cartoonish parodies. He's deft and detailed and he knows his characters well. That's a great feat in and of itself. But - and this is a very subjective but - the characters are so miserable - at turns greedy, cold, calculating, pathetic, incompetent, repressed and generally unlikeable - that I find it impossible to care about any of them. They're all doomed, the lot of them, including the newspaper itself. Within the first few pages of each vignette, you know that the character in question is destined for an inevitable, humiliating decline. By the end, your suspicions are confirmed.

That editors are an neurotic, exacting, and overworked bunch is a bit of a cliche. Rachman, an editor himself, may know this first-hand, and it may very well be true, but I found the miserable humanity in the novel blunt and relentless. Maybe this is a comment on the decline of newspapers and print media in general - the bastardization of what was once a noble, civic calling? Maybe? I don't know. Emotionally, the novel left me cold. I enjoyed (sometimes marveled at) the craft of Rachman's writing, but I didn't enjoy the particulars of his stories. They left me with a kind of dread and impotent rage. That he could elicit strong emotions from me is a testament to his skills as a writer. I just wish Rachman had included one character (ONE!) who wasn't a total idiot/asswipe/emotional failure/wreck/case study. It would have made the rest go down easier.

Despite this, I recommend The Imperfectionists. Rachman's style deserves admiration and study. Just don't expect a fun, uplifting read - that is, unless schadenfreude's your thing.
(less)

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Jul 30, 2011

Isadora rated it

· review of another edition

Tom Rachman perfectly exhibits the imagined grandeur versus the reality of the journalistic field in the "The Imperfectionists". At times, I could not get enough of the senseless characters in this novel; at some moments, they ate at my nerves. This is part of the brilliance of Rachman’s first manuscript: a blend of ambitious, neurotic, and second-rate characters intended to earn the readers’ deepest sympathies.

Like every talented journalist, Rachman hooks readers by creating curi...more

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Jul 26, 2011

Ian Young added it · review of another edition

The Imperfectionists is more a series of short stories linked by a setting than a novel. The setting is a failing English language international newspaper based in Rome, and each of the chapters tells a story about someone linked to the paper. Interwoven between the chapters is a running story, that of the founder of the newspaper and the background to how and why the paper was started. As a device, this works reasonably well – characters feature as central in one chapter and crop up again in...more

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Jul 21, 2011

Simone rated it

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While Rachman is clearly skilled at creating and inhabiting different characters and perspectives, I did not appreciate being brought into their well crafted lives and then cut-off from them, usually right after something really depressing happens. While the stories intertwine and all revolve around the same place, the paper, the various perspectives do not really work to finish each other's stories, and so, at least for me, there was no catharsis or redemption to be had. Essentially, it seemed ...more

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Jul 12, 2011

Liz rated it

· review of another edition

I loved this book! I personally have an inclination for vignettes and character profiles as-is, but I think that no matter what one's favorite story type or genre is that they would love The Imperfectionists. I have not in a very long time read something that so deeply revolved around what being a human really means.

Each chapter in this novel focuses on a different American-born employee working at an International newspaper base out of Rome, and follows a brief snippet of their pers...moreI loved this book! I personally have an inclination for vignettes and character profiles as-is, but I think that no matter what one's favorite story type or genre is that they would love The Imperfectionists. I have not in a very long time read something that so deeply revolved around what being a human really means.

Each chapter in this novel focuses on a different American-born employee working at an International newspaper base out of Rome, and follows a brief snippet of their personal life that relates back, in one way or another, to their connection with the paper. Although the story does not wrap neatly into one perfectly intertwined story showing that each character has directly affected all of the others' lives, it does not need that. The connection between all of the characters, though tangential in most cases, feels so real and so important that I was never left wishing that they all had been brought together in some more "meaningful" (i.e. contrived) way. This book in fact is the very opposite of contrived.

There are no "good and bad" characters- they all have their flaws. Yet it is each characters flaws that made me feel as if they were important to me; as if I wanted to know more about them; as if I wanted to help them and tell them it was ok - that I kind of knew exactly how they were feeling, even though I've never been in any of their situations. Even characters you thought you should hate- the ones you'd probably hate on the street- I was so sad t leave when their chapter ended and so so happy when they would randomly flit into another character's story.

My only complaint, and it is minor, was that I felt that there were very small sections in the book where the characterization was abit too heavy-handed, and incidentally, I only felt this heavy-handedness with characters that were being drawn as abrasive- whether because Rachman wanted to to the character for his flaws despite his glossy image or because Rachman wanted to first paint a picture of a shitty person you'd typically hate before he took you behind the curtains of her life.

Overall, i absolutely loved it, and loved just sitting with the book, re-reading the passages, and truly just thinking about the characters and trying see the world through their eyes. I can think of no better book to remind the reader about the importance of compassion, empathy, and sharing the burden of humanity. Sounds lame, but it's pretty true.(less)

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Jul 11, 2011

Clarissa rated it

· review of another edition

I had very high hopes going into this book and I was sorely disappointed by the time I reached the third segment. My first complaint is that this book is labeled "a novel" and I would argue that The Imperfectionists is not a novel. It is a series of vignettes surrounding a newspaper enterprise in Italy. Yes, each story is connected somehow to the newspaper, but there is no central protagonist, no overarching narrative, or any other aspect of the book associated with the term "nove...more

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About Tom Rachman

Tom Rachman was born in 1974 in London, but grew up in Vancouver. He studied cinema at the University of Toronto and completed a Master's degree in journalism at Columbia University in New York. From 1998, he worked as an editor at the foreign desk of The Associated Press in New York, then did a stint as a reporter in India and Sri Lanka, before returning to New York. In 2002, he was sent to Rome ...more

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Quotes from The Imperfectionists

“What I really fear is time. That's the devil: whipping us on when we'd rather loll, so the present sprints by, impossible to grasp, and all is suddenly past, a past that won't hold still, that slides into these inauthentic tales. My past- it doesn't feel real in the slightest. The person who inhabited it is not me. It's as if the present me is constantly dissolving. There's that line from Heraclitus: 'No man steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.' That's quite right. We enjoy this illusion of continuity, and we call it memory. Which explains, perhaps, why our worst fear isn't the end of life but the end of memories.” — 16 people liked it

“You can’t dread what you can’t experience. The only death we experience is that of other people. That’s as bad as it gets. And that’s bad enough, surely.” — 14 people liked it

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