Reserve Alert; PERFECTION
One of People magazine’s summer book picks is a memoir, Perfection by Julie Metz, that’s picking up speed. It has a killer cover; the author was once a book jacket designer (she wrote about working on Perfection‘s cover in Publishers Weekly). Libraries are showing heavy reserves (126 on 3 copies in one case).
And, no wonder. Who can resist a book that USA Today describes this way,
Julie Metz’s fortysomething husband drops dead on the kitchen floor, leaving her shocked and grieving. Then she discovers he had numerous affairs, including a longtime relationship with one of her friends. Readers will be mesmerized as Metz seeks out his consorts and confronts them — sometimes with curiosity and sometimes with venom.
On the other hand, prepub reviewers found the book difficult to take, which may account for light library orders. Kirkus called it a “vapid, mean-spirited record.” PW called it “cautionary and trying.”
Others are praising the author for her honesty. On Monday, Shelf Awareness called Perfection “remarkably candid.” At the Huffington Post, Jesse Kornbluth can’t stop thinking about it and USA Today recommends it as “a delectable summer read.”
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