Gay author Michael Downing's Perfect Agreement (Breakfast with Scot) is a funny, generous, inventive novel. Downing's seemingly effortless prose juxtaposes cunning portraits of academic functionaries weathering the age of political correctness with the people and values of the last Shaker families in America. And as Mark discovers the joy of genuine engagement, we learn much about the compensations of work, friendship, and committed gay love. Not to mention grammar: Mark's lessons at the end of each chapter are sure to cast the rudiments of standard English in a new light for even the most learned of readers.
