The Imperfectionists

At the heart of Rachman's debut novel is the story of an English-language newspaper--from its founding in Rome in 1954 to the present. The interlinked chapters, each of which could stand on its own, are not laid out chronologically; instead each one focuses on a different newspaper employee at a moment of crisis or conflict. This literary device can be tricky in audio, but the blend of well-crafted stories and narrator Christopher Welch's thoughtful narration makes it work. In particular, Welch's character portrayals--marked by changes in vocalization and timbre--keep listeners oriented in place and time. Although the characters can be painfully flawed or na•ve, Welch concentrates on creating personalities, not drama, allowing listeners to make their own emotional connections and judgments. The buzz created by this novel is well deserved. C.B.L. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Starred review from November 30, 2009
In his zinger of a debut, Rachman deftly applies his experience as foreign correspondent and editor to chart the goings-on at a scrappy English-language newspaper in Rome. Chapters read like exquisite short stories, turning out the intersecting lives of the men and women who produce the paper—and one woman who reads it religiously, if belatedly. In the opening chapter, aging, dissolute Paris correspondent Lloyd Burko pressures his estranged son to leak information from the French Foreign Ministry, and in the process unearths startling family fare that won't sell a single edition. Obit writer Arthur Gopal, whose “overarching goal at the paper is indolence,” encounters personal tragedy and, with it, unexpected career ambition. Late in the book, as the paper buckles, recently laid-off copyeditor Dave Belling seduces the CFO who fired him. Throughout, the founding publisher's progeny stagger under a heritage they don't understand. As the ragtag staff faces down the implications of the paper's tilt into oblivion, there are more than enough sublime moments, unexpected turns and sheer inky wretchedness to warrant putting this on the shelf next to other great newspaper novels.