This isn't the worst thing I've read this year. Rachman, over and over again, convinced me to care about his characters and their relationships. I can't agree with Goodreads's assessment that the interspersed chapters on the history of the paper are dull; I found them warm and subtle. Neither, however, can I agree that Rachman "creates a diverse cast of fully realized characters." They may have diverse physical descriptions, but all speak with exactly the same voice. He even has one character, supposedly from Georgia, repeatedly use the word "proper" as a generic modifier, as in, "a proper shower" or "a proper relationship." Um, is Atlanta the seat of county called Georgia in England that I'm unaware of? Also, 100% of the characters are wretches hell-bent on unmooring themselves from the only harbor of human connection they have. Utlimately, that makes the experience of reading this book extraordinarily unpleasant, like being repeatedly kicked in the face by someone wearing really nice shoes.