Tom Rachman (born September 1974) is an English-Canadian author. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

was ''The Imperfectionists'' (2010), about a group of journalists working in Rome during the collapse of the traditional news media. The book became a global bestseller, published in 25 languages, and

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

's production company, Plan B, optioned the film rights.

Early life and education

Rachman was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, and grew up in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. He studied cinema at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and obtained a master's degree from

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

. Later, in his 40s, upon realizing that he didn't want to continue writing fiction, Rachman enrolled in a master's program in

behavioral science Behavioural science is the branch of science concerned with Human behavior, human behaviour.Hallsworth, M. (2023). A manifesto for applying behavioural science. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', ''7''(3), 310-322. While the term can technically be ap ...

at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

Career

Rachman's first job in journalism was as an editor of international news at

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

headquarters in New York. Later, he was sent to the Rome bureau as a foreign correspondent. He moved to Paris to write fiction, and worked there at the global edition of ''The New York Times'', the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

.'' After publishing ''The Imperfectionists'' in 2010, he quit full-time journalism to write further novels while contributing non-fiction articles to ''The New York Times'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' and ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', among other publications. His novel ''The Italian Teacher,'' about the troubled son of a famous American painter, was nominated for the

Costa Book Award for Novel The Costa Book Award for Novel, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971–2005), was an annual literary award for novels, as part of the Costa Book Awards. The awards were dissolved in 2022. Recipients Costa Books of the Year are distingu ...

. His collection of short stories, ''Basket of Deplorables'', set during the Trump presidency, was nominated for the

Edge Hill Short Story Prize The Edge Hill Short Story Prize is a short-story contest held annually by Edge Hill University. Background The concept for the prize was developed by Professor Ailsa Cox following a 2006 short-story conference at Edge Hill. Candidates must be b ...

. Rachman ghost-wrote the nonfiction book, '' We Are Bellingcat'', with Eliot Higgins, founder of the online-investigative collective known for exposing Russian-state criminality, such as the Skripal poisoning. Rachman currently lives in London, and is a contributing columnist to the Canadian newspaper ''

The Globe & Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it falls ...

''. His writing has twice been included in the Best Canadian Essays anthologies, and was nominated for a 2024

National Newspaper Award The National Newspaper Awards () are prizes awarded annually for the best work in Canadian newspapers. Synopsis The awards were first given in 1949 by the Toronto Press Club, which ran the awards until 1989. They are now given by an independent ...

Personal life

His father was the psychologist

Stanley Rachman Stanley "Jack" Rachman (January 19, 1934 – September 2, 2021) was a South African-born Canadian psychologist who worked primarily with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other anxiety disorders. He facilitated some of the earliest studies ...

, his brother is the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' columnist Gideon Rachman, and his sister Carla is an art historian; their sister Emily died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

in 2012.

Awards

Works

Fiction

*''The Imperfectionists'' (2010) *''The Rise & Fall of Great Powers'' (2014) *''Basket of Deplorables'' (2017) *''The Italian Teacher'' (2018) *''The Imposters'' (2023)

Non-fiction

* ''We Are Bellingcat'' (2021) with Eliot Higgins

Notes

* Christopher Buckley
"The Paper"
''The New York Times'', 30 April 2010.

External links

Tom Rachman
1974 births Living people Jewish English writers Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Canadian male novelists Jewish Canadian writers University of Toronto alumni Novelists from London Novelists from Vancouver 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century English novelists English male novelists 21st-century Canadian male writers {{Canada-writer-stub