Perfect Agreement

I made the mistake of judging this book by its beige/green dull cover of a man working in his garden. So when I pulled it off the shelf, in a hurry to get to the train station, I almost put it back again. A book about a grammarian? And the Shakers? I wondered when and why I had bought this white elephant. Luckily, time was short, and I did not re-shelve it.The story of Mark Sternum, dismissed from his job for flunking the wrong student at the wrong time for the right reason, soon had me hiccupping with laughter. Yes, there are some insider academic jokes here, but the dead-pan telling of the tale creates moments of comedy that are transcendent. My laughter became unmanageable as Mark, with his mysterious absent (or is it present?) Shaker-obsessed father, his dying mother, his sister with her picture-word messages, tries to cope with his life by not answering the phone. Soon my laughter became that of the awkward, snorting, squeaking variety. People on the train began to stare at me as I wheezed laughs into my bag of potato chips. But I could not stop. The hero's angst demanded that I purge it with my muffled whoops.It's too true that the section in this book that spirals into Celia the Shaker's story slows the laughter and seems affected -- not quite believable. Celia's odd tale out of an era that Michael Downing, the author, doesn't quite capture, seems out of place here. But it's worth enduring Celia's too-solemn Shaker world to excavate the events in Mark's life that drive his painful and painfully funny tale. And yes, (one more objection), the grammar lessons at the end of each chapter do become a bit arch. But this book should be read, begs to be read. After all, when was the last time you read a grammar lesson and laughed until your nose ran?

I have to admit to reading few contemporary novels, but I've been reading more of them since happening upon Downing's, in hopes of finding others like it. Both story lines are compelling, and more important to me, the narration is sensitive, humorous, and sophisticated. I congratulate the author, and my only complaint is that his earlier novels are so hard to find.

Perfect Agreement has something for everyone: humor, pathos, social commentary, stunning prose, grammar tips, and even a little history of sorts. In addition to all this, Downing is a captivating storyteller, and this novel intertwines the telling of two stories, one set in the past and one in the present. The present revolves around the career and relationships of Mark Sternum, a man who is remarkably likable, possibly because he is exceptionally devoid of self pity and self deception. Downing's images are so vivid that the reader not only visualizes the story but smells, tastes and feels the events as well. Usually, when I read "a really good piece of literature" I find an astute observation or an exceptionally tastey tidbit of prose which I copy out and save. In the case of Perfect Agreement, I couldn't begin to do this, as nearly every page contained at least one passage that I wanted to savour, copy or memorize. This reader hasn't been this excited about an author since she discovered Faulker twenty-seven years ago. The two authors' ability to sensitively see and juxtapose humor and pain is not dissimilar.

Seldom does even a good book warrant reading more than once. This one is even better the second time around. I haven't enjoyed the search for symbolism so much since my college days.

Do you have difficulty spelling words such as "misspell" or "manageable" or is "managable?" The author offers a brief refresher note after each chapter about spelling, punctuation and diction rules we forget as adults. Downing's protagonist, Mark Sternum, is a punctilious college teacher of spelling and grammer who dares to flunk an African-American unwed mother for her inability to spell. The background issue here is the concern of college educators about today's political correctness on campuses which the author thinks humiliates professors into being overly sensitive in dealing with minority students. Eventually the student proposes to sue all the teachers who passed her because they were derelict in their duties, except to Sternum. The author interweaves the personal life story of Sternum with the Shakers who Downing believes are simply looked upon today as the makers of furniture and not who they really were and what they had contributed to our society. This is an interes