• “Poignant, powerful, and absolutely riveting.”

    —Chris Bohjalian, author of Midwives and Secrets of Eden

  • “An emotional detective story that is unforgettable.”

    —Elinor Lipman, author of My Latest Grievance

  • “Metz brings refreshing candor to a startling tale.”

    —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

  • “Heart-wrenching but triumphant.”

    —Glamour

  • “Lyrical, haunting, and utterly gripping.”

    —Redbook

  • “Astonishing and splendid… Perfection is awesome in the old, better sense of the word. I loved it.”

    —Karen Karbo, author of the Kick-Ass Women series

  • “The seed of Perfection was rage, yet Metz’s fury is not ugly, not even vengeful. That accomplishment, via prose, leaves me breathless.”

    —Sarah Manguso, author of The Two Kinds of Decay

  • “Perfection is—unbelievably, thrillingly, heartbreakingly—true.”

    —Deborah Copaken, author of Shutterbabe

  • “She writes with confidence, grace, and the raw humility that can only come from having arrived to a new understanding of herself through her past.”

    —Kerry Cohen, author of Loose Girl

  • “You’ll be absorbed by the real-life sleuthing in Perfection, a riveting memoir about a widow who discovers that her late husband lived a deceptive double life.”

    —Real Simple

  • “In lyrical, moving prose, we’re treated to a powerful story of love, infidelity, grief—and starting over.”

    —Working Mother

  • “Dark and affecting.”

    —Publishers Weekly

  • “Her raw and brave writing makes you want to cheer Metz on as she pieces her life back together, one beautiful sentence at a time.”

    —Marian Fontana, author of A Widow’s Walk

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About me

I am a writer, graphic designer, and artist. A recipient of fellowships from The Macdowell Colony and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, I have written for publications including The New York Times, Huffington Post, Salon, Dame, Glamour, Redbook, and Coastal Living. Perfection is a New York Times bestseller and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection. I live with my family in the Hudson Valley where I am working on a new book project.

Reviews

Julie Metz’s nervy memoir is astonishing and splendid….Metz is an emergency medical responder of the heart, a woman capable of throwing her own battered, disillusioned self a life-line. Perfection is awesome in the old, better sense of the word. I loved it.

—Karen Karboauthor The Diamond Lane and the Kick-Ass Women series

The seed of Perfection was rage, yet Metz’s fury is not ugly, not even vengeful. Instead it provides this book’s beautiful testimony that instead of killing the subject the author can do something that diminishes him even more totally. She can forgive him and move on.

—Sarah Mangusoauthor of The Two Kinds of Decay

Metz’s Perfection chronicles with lapidary precision one woman’s climb back to happiness…The journey is a painful one, but Ms. Metz is much the stronger for having survived to recount it.

—Julie Powellauthor of Julie and Julia

Perfection is an addictive book — don’t start it if you need to do anything for a few hours.

Jesse Kornbluthwriter and editor of HeadButler.com – The Goodmen Project