Tom Rachman is the author of three novels: The Italian Teacher, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers, and the New York Times bestseller The Imperfectionists. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Born in London and raised in Vancouver, Rachman worked at the Associated Press as a foreign-news editor in Manhattan and Rome before becoming a novelist. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. He lives with his family in London.
"Reading The Imposters is like witnessing a high-wire alchemy act.
Rachman breathes life into Dora Frenhofer, a lonely 73-year-old
Dutch novelist, who then breathes life into her characters, who are
themselves all writers--of poetry, of stand-up comedy routines, of
fabricated news stories and restaurant reviews and sports articles.
. . Rachman writes with generous gallows humor about deeply flawed
people trying to make sense of their surroundings, often through
the written word. His prose conveys a sense of joy, even when it
pries into darker corners of human nature."--Publishers Weekly
"A tapestry of riveting fictional stories . . . Rachman deals with
dark subjects -- death, the fear of irrelevance, terror of the
unknown -- but this beautifully written work is not depressing.
With precision and dexterity, Rachman unfurls Dora's potent legacy
and builds a convincing argument for the power of art and
storytelling." --Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"Readers who enjoy literary complexity will relish a book that
reads like the love child of Cynthia Ozick and Tom Stoppard . . .
This is a novel about storytelling, but it's also about living.
Kindness, cruelty, love, vanity, anger, loneliness and yes, sadness
feature here. Rachman riffs brilliantly on art and the imagination,
but he writes best about the human heart."--The Washington Post
"A romp around the world . . . Rachman's book . . . aims a critical
eye at the written word."--Associated Press
"Rachman is observant and funny in his take on how parents and
partners damage their loved ones. Yet, Dora -- the failed mother,
halfhearted romantic partner and unfulfilled author -- remains an
oddly likeable presence: "She specified herself to be Dutch,
therefore allowed to be blunt." Ultimately, this is a beguiling
book about the wear and tear of disappointments and the
transformative value of storytelling. Failure and loss, Rachman
notes, can also be material. As can a pandemic."--Financial
Times
"Rachman's The Imperfectionists was a stunning elegy for newspaper
journalism. Now, he turns his prodigious gifts to a novelist
writing her own elegy through the scrim of dementia. Dora
Frenhofer, 73 and at the end of a modestly successful career,
decides to write her final book in her own voice "for a change,"
each chapter about a different person in her life, and proves to be
a highly critical -- and perhaps highly unreliable --
narrator."--Los Angeles Times
"Rachman's nuanced exploration of creativity's staying power, a
writer's inherent desire for relevance, and the marketplace's
malleable definition of success unfolds with refined subtlety
through interconnected tales. The characters arguably each deserve
of a novel of their own, yet it is Dora's story Rachman focuses on
with admiration and just a hint of awe."--Booklist (starred)
"With The Imposters, it's as if Rachman is standing at the apex of
his significant talent and sending his characters down the tracks
of a roller-coaster, just to see where they land. Others may find
it all to be screaming fun."--New York Times Book Review
"Despite its existential sadness and profundity, The Imposters is
entrancing, light, witty, and often laugh-out-loud funny. Rachman's
prose is graceful, lucid, and seemingly effortless. His narrative,
set amid the surreal social distortions of the coronavirus
pandemic, is gripping and original. . . The Imposters takes the
trends, pleasures, and anxieties of the epoch from which it springs
and weaves them into a story that compels the engagement of
sensitive and intelligent readers."--Washington Examiner
"Tom Rachman's bustling, globe-trotting new novel manages to be
about a writer's life ending, quietly, lonesomely-even as it bursts
with characters, plots, humor and drama. . . Rachman, a former A.P.
foreign-news editor, has a far-and-wide imagination, and his novel
is ingenious: investing a protagonist at the twilight of her life
with grand, restless vision."--Vogue
"Clever and full of tricks from start to finish . . . The Imposters
is Tom Rachman's fifth book in just over a decade. It is also his
best - full of twists and surprises . . . Whether it's 1970s India,
modern-day LA or Syria, Rachman has a good ear for place and time,
and changes gear effortlessly. Each chapter is a short story in its
own right, but when key characters turn up again elsewhere, the
connection invariably is with Dora, until you start to wonder
whether they might be the creations of this novelist, whose memory
is perhaps not as bad as we thought."--The Spectator UK
Praise for The Imperfectionists
Praise for The Italian Teacher
"A grand tapestry of humanity...From the author of The
Imperfectionists and The Italian Teacher comes the story of an
octogenarian novelist desperate to finish her final book before
it's too late--and gets the chance to do just that during an
isolated Covid lockdown"--Eliza Smith, Lit Hub
"An acute debut . . . Rachman paints the characters' small dramas
and private disappointments with humanity and humor."--The New
Yorker
"An exotic touch of intrigue arises in The Italian Teacher . . .
deliciously ironic and deeply affectionate."--Ron Charles, The
Washington Post
"A poignant, touching tale about living in the shadow of a brazen
artistic genius . . . Unforgettable."--USA Today
"Engaging and subtle . . . Rachman appears in perfect control of
his material . . . engrossing, by turns gently humorous . . . The
Italian Teacher is a psychologically nuanced pleasure."--New York
Times Book Review
"Marvelous . . . A rich, thrilling book that is both a love letter
to and epitaph for the newspaper world . . . Mr. Rachman's
transition from journalism to fiction writing is nothing short of
spectacular. The Imperfectionists is a splendid original, filled
with wit and structured so ingeniously that figuring out where the
author is headed is half the reader's fun. The other half comes
from his sparkling descriptions not only of newspaper office
denizens but of the tricks of their trade, presented in language
that is smartly satirical yet brimming with affection."--Janet
Maslin, New York Times
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