Praise for Perfect Agreement

“Splendid! Downing’s take on academia is so witty and full of such dispiriting accuracy, that it could at first be easy to mistake his novel for a high-end campus satire . . . but Perfect Agreement is much, much more. This may be the first novel in which the love story is counterpointed by a discussion of sentence mechanics, but that doesn’t make it any less moving. Downing has filled his book with so much intelligence and beauty that it can modify your life, like a loved one. And in the realm of art, it doesn’t get any more perfect than that.”
- Washington Post Book World

“Beautifully and economically written, and very funny.”
- Linda Wertheimer, National Public Radio

“Downing is better at writing about the Shakers than Hawthorne or Melville . . . The feeling for the community and its members rings true.”
- New York Times Book Review

“As artfully and solidly constructed as a Shaker table . . . Exquisite.”
- Newsday

“Cleverly constructed and thoroughly engaging.”
- San Francisco Chronicle

“Certainly no one other than Downing has ever thought to include tips on spelling, diction, and grammar in a novel. They are delivered with a wit that suggests that novelist Downing does not take them as seriously as his Professor Sternum.”
- Boston Globe

“A witty, moving, and intelligent meditation on the issues of community and justice. . . Like Toni Morrison, Downing turns to the past, giving voice to stories that have not been told and makes an eloquent plea for compassion and patience.”
- Lexington Herald-Ledger

“A novel of compassion and wit. In this generous, inventive novel, Michael Downing flawlessly interweaves Mark Sternum's travails in academe with a Shaker mystery, a mystery that as it unfolds helps Mark realize what is missing in his own life - surprising him with unexpected answers.”
- Publishers Weekly starred review