Perfect Agreement [signed] [first edition]

"Mark Sternum is a vanishing breed: the grammarian. His love of order extends into his meticulously constructed life, but love and family, he learns, can't be made to agree as easily as subject and verb. One summer, he suddenly finds himself a not-entirely-unwilling outcast of the impossible world of academic political correctness, and his attention turns to the lost world of the Shakers. Filled with satirical takes on modern manners, masterful evocations of the Shaker line, and the beauty of their core belief that work is a gift, Perfect Agreement is far from a simple gift. Here is where Downing's genius at weaving story lines becomes apparent as he gracefully integrates Mark's story with the sometimes heartbreaking tale of the Shaker Celia...exquisite." --Newsday