“... aspirations to perfection awaken us to our actual imperfection.” It is in the space between these aspirations and our inability to achieve them that Grant reflects upon imperfection. Grant argues that an awareness of imperfection, defined as both suffering and the need for justice, drive us to an unrelenting search for perfection, freedom, and self-determination. The twenty-one brief chapters of Imperfection develop this governing idea as it relates to the present situation of the God debate, modern ethnic conflicts, and the pursuit of freedom in relation to the uncertainties of personal identity and the quest for self-determination.
A mature scholar and established literary critic, Patrick Grant is professor emeritus of English at the University of Victoria. He is the author of several books, including Buddhism and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka; Literature, Rhetoric, and Violence in Northern Irelands; and Personalism and the Politics of Culture.