The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

7.3/10 dropps

Tom Rachman’s debut novel is a decent first effort. The Imperfectionists focuses on the lives of eleven individuals connected with an ailing newspaper based in Rome. The reader infers that the paper is dying early on: it has no web-presence, the paper’s parent company refuses to pump money into the paper, and the threat of layoffs is constant.
The Imperfectionists is a series of short stories presented in a loose chronological order. The first two vignettes are weak, but the following nine range from entertaining to mediocre. Rachman clearly has a lot of ideas he wishes to convey with this novel, but The Imperfectionists never realizes its potential as a short-story collection. Revolving on the players around the unnamed-newspaper on the verge of collapse is reminiscent of Joshua Ferris’ superior novel Then We Came to the End, which focuses on an unnamed-advertising agency on the verge of collapse. However, Rachman is unlike Ferris in that he deems the employee’s lives more engaging outside of the office rather than the absurdities inherent within it.
Too often, Rachman chooses to wink at his readers, such as when one employee is described as leaving the paper to work in an industry that won’t disappoint her, and then taking up a position at Lehman Brothers. At other times, Rachman is too sentimental and melodramatic. Many of the stories resolve themselves to easily. Three stories hint at brilliance: a story about a copying editor and a visiting childhood friend, the CFO who meets a recently dismissed employee on an airplane and the attraction that develops between them, and finally a story about a recent-hire in Cairo who must contend with an overbearing veteran in the industry.
Ultimately, Rachman hints at better things to come in this novel. I look forward to seeing how Rachman matures as a novelist. The Imperfectionists is a great way to kill a plane ride. For readers looking for a more engaging novel, consider looking elsewhere.

-John Jamieson