A splendid debut

One of the things you always hear said to a young writer is "Write what you know." That is, write about something you're familiar with, so you're coming from a position of authority, rather than casting about to sound believable.

It's good advice and, in the case of first-time novelist Tom Rachman, it's a winning formula. I just finished reading "The Imperfectionists," a collection of 11 intertwined short stories that together make up an impressive and intriguing whole. Rachman is a journalist who's worked as a foregin correspondent for The Associated Press and as an editor for the International Herald Tribune in Paris, and now lives in Rome.

So when he sets out to write about editors and reporters who inhabit the newsroom of an international daily newspaper that's based in Rome, he's writing about what he knows. As a journalist myself, I recognize the flawed characters he sketches -- some who live and die for the story and the next deadline; some who struggle to have any semblance of a meaningful personal life; some who seek to hide their insecurities by throwing themselves into work.

I'd never heard of Rachman or his book, but my friend Bob, a frequent commenter on this site, recommended it highly and loaned it to me recently. I had no expectations going in but I found myself absorbed by the characters and the interlocking narrative that weaves them all together. With one exception, I found each of the chapters strong enough to stand on its own as a self-contained story.

Rachman nails the newsroom banter and insecurities of the various journalists -- including the ambitious editor, a workaholic news editor and a past-his-prime correspondent -- as well as the idiosyncracies of the eccentric publisher, the non-nonsense chief financial officer and other characters.

Their individual stories are set against the backdrop of an English-language newspaper with falling circulation, dwindling corporate support and no Web site -- an unpardonable sin in these times.

The book is an easy read and full of surprises that will make you feel sympathy toward several characters. They come across as real people, with complicated lives and personal challenges that circumscribe their lives. Bottom line: This is an entertaining book well worth reading. Christopher Buckley, writing in The New York Times Sunday Book Review, certainly liked it.

Photograph by Alessandra Rizzo