The Imperfectionists (2010)

I didn't love is book as much as the critics seemed to. It was rather depressing and didn't really seem to have any sort of useful point. The writing was good, however, and the author did an ok job of telling a story in an interesting way. He used the lives of the employees of an international newspaper to tell the story of the paper itself. People seemed to really be taken by this book - I found it wasn't really "my cup of tea". ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! A very entertaining, easy read from Tom Rachman. This his debut novel about the newspaper business set in Rome gives us glimpses into the lIves of the reporters and staff of the paper.

Each chapter tells the story of a different character while spanning the decades from the 1950's through the turn of the century. Sometimes quirky, sometimes poignant, you will definitely get the vibe that these are "real" people.

I appreciate a book where I gain knowledge on a different subject. This time it was an insightful back-door view of the newspaper industry, its struggles, evolvement, and challenges with the dawn of the Internet.

I truly wish wish this book was twice as long because it left me wanting more and I guess that's a good thing. As I mentioned, this is the author's debut novel and I cannot wait to read what comes next from him. ( )

Started and did not finish. Disjointed, more short stories/character studies than a coherent novel. Not my cup of tea. ( )

Each chapter tells the story of a different employee at an International newspaper in Rome. Some chapters flash backed to the founding of the paper by an American business man. Quite brilliant. ( )

I plowed through this one rather quickly. Much like Visit from the Goon Squad, this narrative is split between different people. The organizing principle or glue that holds these people together is the european-based english language newspaper they work for, and in one case, read. This is the 6 degrees of separation idea. I'd even call it a trend. When I talked about this with a friend, we tried to remember why it feels so familiar and decided it goes back to those movies like 21 Grams and Crash. We're only given moments of the character's lives; hopefully moments that reveal their character and cause it to change however slightly. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. I'm not sure how I feel about this trend. I find myself entirely satisfied at times, and at other times, uncomfortably dissatisfied. Enough about structure. In all, I enjoyed reading this book. Rachman shows a strong ability to hold the narrative together, and his prose are very readable.

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