Genres
Collection
Description
An "imperfect" crew of reporters and editors working for an international English language newspaper stumble toward an uncertain future as the era of print news gives way to the Internet age. The story is set against the gorgeous backdrop of Rome.
Media reviews
The novel is alternately hilarious and heart-wrenching, and it's assembled like a Rubik's Cube. I almost feel sorry for Rachman, because a debut of this order sets the bar so high.
Enjoy "The Imperfectionists" for the gem that it is.
"The Imperfectionists" is about what happens when professionals realize that their craft no longer has meaning in the world's eyes (think of all those hardworking monk-scribes idled by Gutenberg) and that the only people who really understand them are on the same foundering ship, and that, come to
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think of it, they really loved that damn ship for all it made their lives hell. Show Less
He's both testing and tender towards his people - their loneliness and purposelessness, moments of cleaving awareness ("one day, his son will die"), capabilities for love and commitment, devotion to kids, awareness of the fading future of a faded friend. It's convincing and compassionate; amusing
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and affectionate. In fact, it's a bit of a jewel. Show Less
Anyone who has ever spent time in newspaperland will recognise The Imperfectionists' high degree of authenticity. So – you hope – will quite a few people beyond it. The citadel may be crumbling, but the righteousness of the defenders, miraculously, endures.
Time and again Rachman homes in on the human drama of the invisible people who make the institution tick, deftly capturing the petty rivalries and small kindnesses that give any workplace its human dimension.
this book is filled with gorgeous writing, jolts of insight and narrative surprises that feel both unexpected and inevitable. One finishes reading The Imperfectionists with the sense that Rachman not only knows his way around a newsroom, but is also well acquainted with storytelling masters such as
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Anton Chekhov and William Trevor. Show Less
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2012)
Scotiabank Giller Prize (Longlist — 2010)
Canadian Authors Association Award (Winner — Fiction — 2011)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Fiction — 2010)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction & Poetry — 2010)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2010)
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction — 2010)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (2010)
Language
Original publication date
2010