#283 | The Lie of ‘Perfection’—Vincenzo Latronico on the Inescapable Feeling of Discontent in a Social Media World
Quick SUMMARY:
Douglas Vigliotti discusses “Perfection” by Vincenzo Latronico, a literary novel about a millennial couple navigating modern life as digital artists in Berlin. Vigliotti explores the book’s themes of technology, social media, and the persistent feeling of “not enough,” despite seemingly having it all. He highlights Latronico’s background as a translator, shares favorite quotes, reflects on the novel’s detached narrative style and the millennial experience of the world, and overall, praises the novel while highly recommending it.
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TOPICS COVERED IN the EPISODE:
Introduction & Podcast Purpose (00:09) - Host introduces the podcast, the book "Perfection," and mentions the companion newsletter.
About the Author: Vincenzo Latronico (01:06) - Background on the author, his translation work, and influence on his writing style.
Translation, Craft, and Literary Influences (02:11) - Discussion of translation as a craft, its impact on Latronico, and literary influences like Georges Perec.
Book Overview: Plot and Style (04:29) - Summary of the story, main characters Tom and Anna, and the book’s stylistic approach.
Narrative Tone and Example Passage (05:56) - Explanation of the book’s outside-looking-in narrative style, with a sample excerpt.
Themes: Contentment and the "Not Enough" Feeling (07:11) - Exploration of the book’s central theme: the struggle with contentment in modern, tech-driven life.
Technology, Social Media, and Millennial Experience (08:28) - How technology and social media shape the protagonists’ and millennials’ perceptions of satisfaction.
The Inescapable Influence of Social Media (09:55) - Reflection on the pervasive cultural impact of social media, regardless of personal use.
Final Excerpt and Closing Thoughts (11:04) - A favorite quote from the book, final thoughts, and encouragement to read the novel.
Outro and Ways to Connect (00:12:03) - Information on subscribing, connecting with the host, and links to his book and newsletter.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to “Books for Men”, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do so. This week, I have a piece of literary fiction to share with you. It is on the shorter side, at about 125 pages or so. It is a translated work of fiction, something that is not a stranger. On this podcast, I tend to really like translated fiction for whatever reason, but this one is titled “Perfection” by Vincenzo Latronico, and it came out in 2025, in the English language, but was originally published in 2022. I believe in Italian, so I will share a lot more about this book. Of course, what some of my large takeaways are. Why I think you should read it. I really love this book for a lot of reasons, and also some of my favorite quotes and all of that good stuff. But before I do that, I always like to remind new listeners about the companion newsletter that goes with this podcast, and that's just a once-a-month email that rounds up all of the episodes from that month, complete with full book and author information.
01:06 - All of my favorite quotes, episode summaries, as well as additional book recommendations. So if that sounds like something that you are interested in, or perhaps you are already sold, and you would like to sign up, then all you have to do is head over to the website BooksforMen.org. All right, so as always, I like to start with the writer, and he's an Italian author of, I think, five novels. So the one that I'm sharing with you today was his fourth, and I believe he's published one since then, because as I mentioned at the top of this episode, this book came out in English in 2025, but came out in 2022 originally. So I think that he's written one in between. As you might expect, “Perfection” really gained steam in the US and England last year when it was translated in English. Naturally, this is when I first heard about it and read it. I don't know much about the author himself other than that he was also a translator or is also a translator whose translated works in Italian of many great writers like F Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde.
02:11 - Both are authors that I've shared on this pod, and actually, I can link up the episodes to those in the show notes, as well as other greats like Isaac Asimov, George Orwell. This is such an interesting lens on craft for me. I mean, just the idea of tracing and interpreting words of great writers has to make a large impact on you as a writer. And funnily enough, another author that I've shared on this podcast numerous times. Hunter S Thompson, although definitely not a translator or anything like Vincenzo Latronico. He's said to have retype Hunter S Thompson, that is Fitzgerald's “The Great Gatsby,” along with some other Hemingway and Faulkner, to learn how the words actually felt and looked. So I thought that that was always a really interesting thing. And I think that that's like a given if you are a translator, because you're so dialed in to what these words mean and the syntax, and it's just an interesting lens on really learning and establishing a craft anyway. I don't want to assume, but I think having that experience with translation may have really aided his approach in writing perfection, which was literally, and this is something that he has said, him trying to imitate both in style and tone and even thematically, the novel “Things” by the French author Georges Perec.
03:32 - Which is why I am assuming that his background as a translator is sort of inseparable from how this book, “Perfection”, was actually conceived. In an interview that he did for The Guardian, he said, “Being a translator is like hosting a writer literally within your own voice. When the guest leaves, they may be leave a pair of shoes behind and you start wearing them.” So without saying it. Quote unquote. He's kind of saying it right. He's alluding to something that may or may not have impacted him. It's always hard to tell these kinds of things, especially if you're an author and someone is asking you the question, you know. What inspired you, or how does this work, or whatnot? It's not easy for you to kind of decipher that stuff. So I don't want to look too far into that. And I really just want to highlight it because I thought it was interesting, but more so, I think it's time I just jump into the book and tell you what this story is about, because it is a great one, and it's one that I think you will really like.
04:29 - All right. So the story revolves around the couple, Tom and Anna. Both are digital artists and creative professionals who work remotely and are now expats living in a thriving artist community in Berlin. So they are millennials, and the book paces itself in the modern yet rapid technological advancements that shaped and transformed the lives of most millennials. And this is something that I will get into more in just a moment because it is important to the book. But on the face of it, the relationship between Tom and Anna is pretty enviable. They have this flexible schedule with remote work. They never struggle to pay bills, and they have a loving relationship with each other, with shared values and friends and travel and adventure and the community that appreciates art and all of this stuff that is from the outside looking in. Just awesome, right? For lack of a better word. And I would consider this book to be quite stylish in that it's written from a distance, as I just mentioned, and it maintains this style throughout, giving it this outward looking in type of vibe, which for me works so well because of the objective commentary that the book starts to make about the protagonists, that really is indecipherable to them as they're living through it, just like it is for us in real life.
05:56 - So to give you an example of this, because I know that that was sort of a mouthful, I will read you this little excerpt. Latronico writes, “They will be tempted to search elsewhere for what they found all those years ago in Berlin, and then tried and failed to find again that winter. But it will prove impossible because that abundance was the result of a specific overlap between the city's history and theirs. Intensely disoriented, they will find themselves unable to disentangle one from the other, and this, their sudden inability to access a version of their past, unfiltered by nostalgia, will be their understanding of nostalgia. How long will they be able to go on like this? In theory, forever.” So I don't want to dissect that little passage, although it's definitely worthy of dissection, it's more meant to just give you an idea of what I mean when I say that it's written from the outside, looking in in style and tone, and that really adds to how this book feels to the reader, especially when you start to combine it with what I think is the big message of this book or the themes of this work.
07:11 – I will just mention quickly before I jump into that. I do love that it's short. I wish more novels were this length. To be honest, I just kept saying to myself, this is enough. Which is ironic because the book, I hate to say it, but perfectly captures the idea of not enough. So there's this great little one-liner that I pulled from the book that I think captures this idea, and Latronico writes: “They worried they were content merely being contented.” And although this line is an oversimplification of that idea, perhaps there's never been a time in history when you could literally have it all and still not be satisfied with it. And I think this is the situation that our protagonists, Tom and Anna, find themselves in. This has more to do with technology and social media than it does with our human predilections or biases. I don't think the latter has really changed ever. I just think that humans, and specifically millennials, have grown up with social media from its mere infancy until today, making the navigation of how it affects our perception of the world.
08:28 - Near impossible to disconnect from our actual lived experiences. It's this really sad and painful realization or truth about the world that we live in, and this book captures that sameness of a generation. I hate to say it perfectly. Even despite what appears to be independent freedom of our protagonists, they are still captured by this invisible set of norms that have sort of penetrated and radically shaped society. So our protagonists, as I mentioned, have it all, and they end up being tamed and molded into thinking that they don't. Even as the world around them changes and they travel and relocate and are forced to come to grips with this new reality, that same feeling of not enough That is totally inescapable as we are now forced to deal with everyone else's. Quote unquote, perfect lives. Of course, we know that this isn't true, but it's not how we feel every single day when we log on to Instagram or Facebook and get to see the lives of every single person highlighted and emphasized by perfect pictures, well-curated and edited videos, and all of that stuff.
09:55 - While most people are sitting there saying it's all in the name of fun, and yada yada yada. It's the cumulative effect that shapes society and how we live our lives. So while one photo might be just fun, it's the millions and millions and millions that create this energy and the culture that we live in. And social media has capsized this entire idea and made it nearly impossible for us to live a satisfied life. Even if we're not utilizing it, it still influences the culture and society around us, so much so that it's inescapable. As I said, it's just part of the world that we live in, which is why this book is so amazing. So I will end this with a quick excerpt from the novel that I just love, and it comes on the heels of Tom and Anna creating this. I think it was like an Airbnb experience or something, and Latronico writes, “But then they will receive notifications of the first reviews, and all that weight will instantly lift. Three will have come in, and all of them will give five stars. One will be by a woman with over three hundred thousand followers who will have tagged them in a post praising, as per their agreement, the relaxed but impeccable welcome, the choice of natural wines, the simple, elegant décor—Mediterranean and yet unmistakably international. It's all completely perfect, the story will say. It's just like it is in the pictures.”
11:24 - All right, so on that note, for the sake of time, I'm going to wrap this up. I think you should read the book because it is short and it's not that big of an ask. But either way, if you enjoyed this episode, please remember to click subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on, because doing so is the best way for new listeners to find the show and inspire more men to read. If you want to reach out to me, connect with me. There are two ways to do so: either via my website, DouglasVigliotti.com, or on Instagram @DouglasVigliotti. It's the only social media that I have. Maybe you want to check out my latest book, “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story”. In that case, head over to the website AristotleforNovelists.com. And last but not least, if you want more information on this podcast specifically, which includes signing up for that newsletter I mentioned at the top of the episode, then all you have to do is visit the website BooksforMen.org.
