Having liked The Imperfectionists, I was delighted to find The Italian Teacher in a charity shop. It is tender, heartwarming, poignant, engaging and also very funny in places. Just as The Imperfectionists can be read as a takedown on journalism, so the same could be applied to the treatment of the art world in The Italian Teacher. It is shown to be superficial and more about the manufacture of a story/narrative than anything of substance. It is this dynamic that Charles Bavinsky, the hero, seeks to exploit. He has a love-hate relationship with his famous artist father, Bear. Although Charles ostensibly lives his life as a failing Italian teacher, he creates his own art, faking it as Bear's — and gets away with it, although it is his/this tragedy that sits at the center of the novel, for he can tell no one precisely what he has done. The novel therefore focuses on inner versus outer lives, what constitutes success/legacy and whether it matters (relative, say, living in the moment). Charles's life is also a plausible chronicle of the second half of the 20th century and how its mores/conventions changed over this period. A lot to digest and perhaps a little too long, at close on 400 pages, but mostly very enjoyable. 9.5/10.
By Tom Rachman