Publisher's Synopsis
This funny, generous, inventive novel tells the story of Mark Sternum, a college professor whose meticulously constructed world is shaken to the core after a student labels him racist. In a period of weeks, he is fired from his job, his lover announces that he is leaving town, and his father--who is supposed to be dead--moves in. Demonstrating great mastery of language and taking genuine delight in lifes drama and comedy, Michael Downing has given us a novel that celebrates the joys and exasperations of work, friendship, and committed love. Mark Sternum is full of droll observations about the rules that govern our language. A professor who teaches spelling and grammar at Bostons McClintock College (An odd job for a college professor, he is told, but no one else seems to be doing it), he leads a diligent if somewhat detached life. Friends and family try to coax him into deeper involvement, but he keeps his lover at arms length and screens all incoming calls--including his eccentric sisters word pictures about the waning days of their comatose mother.;Then Rashelle Whippet, and African-American single mother who fails the colleges basic skills test for the last time, accuses Mark of prejudgism, and he is fired. Blown off course, he monitors the ensuing academic skirmish from a distance as his case makes national headlines.In the midst of this mess, his lover decides to move out of town, an anonymous supporter E-mails him daily advice, and his father, Thomas, a photographer famous for his pictures of the Shaker communities that once thrived in America, turns up for a visit. Mark is particularly surprised by this last turn of events: He had believed his father was dead.The mysterious Thomas moves in and begins a tale about Sister Celia and the Negro Jesus who visited the Shakers more than a hundred years earlier. In spite of himself, Mark is mesmerized by the man and his story, which offers Mark the chance to understand, finally, his fathers lonely passion for the Shakers. Perfect Agreement is a funny, generous, inventive novel. Downings seemingly effortless prose juxtaposes cunning portraits of academic functionaries weathering the age of political correctness with the people and values of the last Shaker families in America.;And as Mark discovers the joys of genuine engagement, we learn much about the compensations of work, friendship, and committed love. Not to mention grammar: Marks lessons at the end of each chapter are sure to cast the rudiments of standard English in a new light for even the most learned of readers.
