Rachman, what world do you live in? : The Imperfectionanists

Tom Rachman's "The Imperfectionists" continues to be baffling - terrific stories one by one, but the cumulative effect is sad and depressing. Case in point: the story about 2/3 through about Craig Menzies, the news editor, basically the deputy editor, at the international paper which is the locus for all the stories in this novel. Menzies is very successful at work - though a bit of burnout case who has fantasies about success in another field, patents or engineering. He's in his 40s (seems older, to me) and has a much younger partner, an apparently very good-looking 20something, who has given up all of her ambitions (photography) to live with Menzies in Rome. Very romantic, but doomed, obviously, anyone can see that coming - but what makes the story so exasperating is the way Menzies allow her (Annika?) to trample all over him - she's unfaithful, her Italian lover sends emails to the entire newspaper staff with lewd pictures and sexual details, and Menzies? - he barely raises a peep, and even ends up paying a lawyer to make some bogus claim from the Italian pest go away. Finally, finally!, toward the end of the story Menzies explodes (just when Annika is trying to make up with him) and kicks her out, buys her a one-way ticket back to the U.S., pays for a hotel room for her and then - when he calls in sorrow and regret, the Italian guy answers the phone. Loser! Exasperating, but the story is so well written and so compelling I want to keep reading more and will in fact finish this novel, but I do feel sorry for Rachman if this is really his view of the world: Rachman, what world do you live in? Yes, I know some people like these - but don't you know anyone with gumption, spine, character, lovers, friends?