Book Buzz–January 2012 Newsletter
January Read
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
A failing English-language newspaper in Rome provides the setting for Rachman’s debut novel. Although it was once a famed starting point for noted American journalists, the 50-year-old paper has suffered in recent years from declining advertising revenue, shrinking readership and competition from online news sources.
Written in a series of linked stories, Rachman profiles the employees of the newspaper as they struggle with the reality of their situation and with the complications in their own lives. A young correspondent is manipulated by an egotistical war reporter. Although editor Herman Cohen maintains complete objectivity about his work but is blind to the failings of his close friend. Arthur Gopal, the newspaper’s obituary writer, finds his life transformed by a tragedy. An aging freelancer resorts to desperate measures for a story while the young publisher pays more attention to his basset hound than to the newspaper that is his family’s legacy.
Upcoming Discussions
February 2012
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Alternative Title: The Other Hand
March 2012
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
April 2012
Toronto’s One Book Selection
- To be announced in February
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