Perfect World

Tom Brackett has created the perfect world for himself: he has a good job, a perpetually supportive wife, two kids, a mini-van, and even a golden retriever.

But then, his mental instability causes him to commit a terrifying act of violence.

Tom’s story, which is at once tragic and hopeful, shows how quickly familiar structures can crumble and raises the question of how we can possibly prepare ourselves for the loss of everything we hold dear. It dramatizes a man’s struggle to maintain control over his own life under horrific circumstances. Though offering no solution, its message is a positive one: that the struggle is worth the effort.

AUTHOR

Ian Colford

Ian Colford was born, raised and educated in Halifax. His reviews and stories have appeared in many print and online publications. He is the author of two collections of short fiction and two novels and is the recipient of the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Evidence.

Reviews

“Perfect World is a corruscating examination of a mind riven by illness and the traumatic ripple effects that can have on one man and those closest to him. The book’s power resides precisely in its brevity, which provides a focus and an immediacy that is striking and emotionally devastating.” ? Steven W. Beattie, Quill and Quire

“[A] carefully written, sometimes painful tour through one man’s trauma and resilience, his greatest falls and ultimately, his acceptance of a difficult reality. And it is wholly worthy of applause.” ? Winnipeg Review

“A voyage through sickness and the mysteries of the human condition, written with skill and care. A haunting study in empathy.”? Michelle Butler Hallett

” Perfect World is unflinching in its presentation of a mind slowly unraveling. Perceptively charting one man’s lonely struggle against an inexorable foe, Ian Colford captures the stark complexities of mental illness like few others. At times brutal yet always deeply compassionate, Perfect World is a wonder.” ? Corey Redekop