Perfection

A book that explains why all coffee shops look the same

Hi there. It’s been a while.

I’ve mainly been writing over at Ideas We Love.

Hi to those people who have recently subscribed. I’ll try and be a bit more present here going forward, I promise.

I’ve just finished reading Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico and finding myself with a bit of time on my hands, I thought I’d write it up.

As an early millenial, no book has spoken to me about the sadness of my generation quite like this one. We are a group brought up with smartphones and broadband internet, but crucially we also remember the before times.

The book describes, in 100 short pages, the existential yearning that protagonists Tom & Anna, experience almost constantly: how they long for a satisfying job and career, how they search endlessly to find the best parties, to have the picture perfect life; full of vibrant pot plants and artisanal crockery.

Every experience is mediated through the implicit question: what will this look like on Instagram?

It reminded me of an article I’d read not so long ago about why all coffee shops are starting to look the same. The tyranny of the algorithm is pushing us toward a global ubiquity. And in the hunt for the authentic - everything gets flattened.

Fuck it’s depressing.