The Imperfectionists: Book One

Starting The Imperfectionists, I must admit I was a little confused. It seems that when I first pick up a book and read the back cover, it doesn’t actually register with me. I don’t seem to understand what the book is actually about until I start reading it. But, I like it that way. Always a surprise when reading a book. 

After reading the first two sections, you might, as I immediately thought, think that this is a collection of short stories. But, The Imperfectionists is more than that. As you keep reading, each of the characters begin to appear in other stories, keeping them all tied together. 

Basically, this story is about journalists and readers who are involved some way with this particular newspaper. But digging deeper, it's about so much more than that. It's about people compromising their beliefs because sometimes they're just tired of waiting around for things to get better. It's about people who are tired with living their lives the way they have been. It's about people who think they are a certain type of person, only to discover that they aren't that person at all. 

Generally, I am not a fan of writing in present tense. But author Tom Rachman did it flawlessly. He was able to write with such beautiful language, that it almost transcended past/present tense. It's like I didn't even pay attention to the individual words, because the deeper meaning of the story was so much more wonderful. Rachman found beautiful ways to say even the most mundane things…. 

"Over the next few weeks, she hangs around the apartment, drinking herbal tea, watching Italian variety shows. She is crotchety with him, then apologizes. Once healed, she resumes her photography project on graffiti but does not return to yoga." 


This is definitely going on my list of books that I couldn't live without!