The Perfect Man

Starred review from March 26, 2007
Murr elegantly explores smalltown insularity and secrecy in this Commonwealth Award– winning third novel, following The Boy
and The Genius of the Sea
. Abandoned by his white father and his absent Indian mother, rejected by his intolerant London relatives, Rajiv Travers, 12 years old in 1954, is sent to stay with his father's other brother, Oliver, who has recently followed the love of his life, romance novelist Ruth, from New York City to tiny Pisgah, Mo. In short order, Oliver commits suicide, and Ruth becomes an uneasy guardian to this curious young boy, who shields himself from pain and prejudice with his quick wit and shrewd impersonations. Peerwise, Raj is quickly taken under the wing of Annie Celli, already a striking beauty, joining a group that also includes Annie's soul mate, the delicate and emotionally fragile Lewis. As the friends grow into young men and women, Annie finds herself torn between her devotion to the increasingly unstable Lewis (who witnessed his younger brother's murder) and her undeniable feelings for Raj. Murr takes a Faulknerian approach to his portrait of Pisgah, peopling it with minor characters whose eccentricities provide local color and shrouded gothic elements—one of which reverberates menacingly. Murr poignantly dramatizes love's capacity to effect change.

September 1, 2007
Adult/High School-This book could accurately be described as gothic fiction, a coming-of-age novel, or a melodrama. Indeed, it succeeds so intelligently and precisely in blending these genres with a cast of multigenerational characters that readers are left transfixed. Twice abandoned by irresponsible, callous relatives, Raj, 12, is abruptly left in the reluctant hands of romance novelist Ruth, the girlfriend of a deceased uncle. Raj, India-born and London-raised, is the ultimate outsider by the standards of his new 1950s Pisgah, MO, home. Although he is a derisive clown and a brilliant mimic, he desires to be accepted into the fabric of the town. Murr writes: as a child he would spend hours imagining himself as ruggedly handsome, laconic, and dangerously impulsive as the men of Ruths romances. Brutally powerful, morbidly sensitive, he was the perfect man. Ultimately, however, his inability to achieve such a personal ideal or to homogenize with the community is his salvation from the darkness of Pisgah and the corrupt adult world. The novel leaps seamlessly among perspectives, story lines, and time periods. Murr becomes almost playful in a dizzying carousel of dualisms: youth and maturity, intensity and detachment, sanity and madness, aggression and passivity, male and female, life and death, helplessness and power. These extremes are easily reached, discarded, and compounded through a parade of deeply complex characters. It is then the quieter, individual moments of thoughtfulness, imagination, and compassion that allow some characters a sense of faith and glimpse of humanity. This title will appeal to a wide range of readers."Shannon Peterson, Kitsap Regional Library, WA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 15, 2007
Murr's third novel (afterThe Genius of the Sea ) follows the movements of Raj, a young Indian boy who is remanded by his globetrotting British father into the care of his aunt in rural Missouri. The small town of Pisgah, peopled largely by recent European immigrants, is much like Chekhov's provincial Russia in that nothing appears to be happening until the dark secrets of the inhabitants are unearthed. Murr's vast cast of characters includes neither sympathetic straw men nor unlikable antagonists; instead, his characters exhibit a humanity that makes it impossible to accept or totally reject them completely. An exquisite stylist, Murr deftly balances narrative and dialog to give us a highly literate and eminently readable novel. In this sense, Murr's achievement is remarkable: he combines two unlike qualities in crafting what we might call a "literary page-turner," one that, despite its length, comes to an end faster than we'd hoped. Replete with Faulknerian foreboding, this novel is a welcome addition to any fiction collection. Strongly recommended for public and academic libraries.Chris Pusateri, Jefferson Cty. P.L., Lakewood, CO

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.