Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0425166287, Paperback)

Over the past decade Michael Downing has acquired a small but passionate readership. His 1987 novel A Narrow Time was praised for its insights into the psychology of fear and guilt, and his 1990 Mother of God shocked critics with its portrayal of dysfunction in the perfect American family. In Perfect Agreement Downing has combined these themes to tell the story of Mark Sternum, a gay man who loses his job as a professor and rediscovers his father, whom he had long presumed dead. Downing's writing is beautiful and astute, and his ability to unravel the human heart and allow us to see--and feel--its innermost desires is astonishing.