Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico

“Perfection” Is the Perfect Novel for an Age of Aimless Aspiration

Vincenzo Latronico’s slender volume captures a culture of exquisite taste, tender sensitivities, and gnawing discontent.

The magic trick of “Perfection,” like “Things” before it, is to reveal readers to themselves—gently, in the way a therapist might encourage a patient to arrive at an unflattering truth. This original misapprehension might not be your fault, but it is your responsibility, Latronico suggests. You, contemporary reader, are the victim of poor training. You have been duped into turning any text into a catalogue of fleeting images. You have been distracted from what is right there on the page, waiting to make you actually happy. - Alice Gregory, The New Yorker