A Crooked Kind of Perfect

Zoe Elias is the story’s protagonist and narrator, and she is 10 years old when her story begins. Zoe is passionate about the prospect of becoming a pianist and playing at Carnegie Hall, and her head is filled with grandiose ideas about elegance, fame, and glamor. Zoe’s inner transformation revolves around Making the Most of Imperfection. She rarely gets what she wants in life, instead having to compromise or sacrifice for the sake of her family, so her imagination is consumed by visions of a perfect life with a perfect piano-playing ability. Zoe admires the famous Russian American pianist Vladimir Horowitz but forgets what he said about perfection until much later in the story. She constantly compares the piano and organ in her mind, seeing the organ as inferior, and forgets that music is made great by the way it is played, not the instrument it is played on. Zoe shies away from confrontation and rarely complains about her family to them or anyone else; however, she is highly sarcastic and filled with wry humor, often saying things like, “I have gone over to the dork side” (29).