A struggling novelist travels the world to avoid an awkward wedding in this hilarious Pulitzer Prize-winning novel full of “arresting lyricism and beauty” (The New York Times Book Review). WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZENational BestsellerA New York Times Notable Book of 2017A Washington Post Top Ten Book of 2017A San Francisco Chronicle Top Ten Book of 2017Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal … 2017
A San Francisco Chronicle Top Ten Book of 2017
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the Lambda Award, and the California Book Award
Who says you can’t run away from your problems? You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes–it would be too awkward–and you can’t say no–it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world.
QUESTION: How do you arrange to skip town?
ANSWER: You accept them all.
What would possibly go wrong? Arthur Less will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Saharan sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and encounter, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. Through it all, there is his first love. And there is his last.
Because, despite all these mishaps, missteps, misunderstandings and mistakes, Less is, above all, a love story.
A scintillating satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, a bittersweet romance of chances lost, by an author The New York Times has hailed as “inspired, lyrical,” “elegiac,” “ingenious,” as well as “too sappy by half,” Less shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy.
“I could not love LESS more.”–Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“Andrew Sean Greer’s Less is excellent company. It’s no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful.”-–Christopher Buckley, The New York Times Book Review
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Like any curious writer, I occasionally read the award-winning books of the Pulitzer and Booker variety. I also watch award-winning movies (Oscars, Golden Globes, etc.) and listen to award-winning albums (Grammys, Pulitzer, et al.). I like to see what all the hub-bub is about and judge for myself. I really wanted to love Less by Andrew Sean Greer. It’s classified as humorous (awesome) literary (even better) fiction. That’s my wheelhouse (disclaimer: I also write humorous literary fiction). Unfortunately, I didn’t love it. Sad, I know.
Published book blurb for Less: Who says you can’t run away from your problems? You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes–it would be too awkward–and you can’t say no–it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world. How do you arrange to skip town? You accept them all.
This is the setup to how Arthur Less avoids suffering and humiliation. He escapes. And this is what Greer uses to setup a series of comedic situations to drop author Arthur Less into. Some are amusing. Arthur believes he’s fluent in German (he’s not) while staying in Germany. His translated books are brilliant overseas (they’re not. Maybe artfully translated). Comedic (?) foibles unfold. Arthur flies around the world, takes pills, hops in the sack(s) with various assistants and travel companions. He ruminates about past transgressions. Or does he since the book is narrated by someone else? This someone’s identity is the novel’s big reveal. Don’t worry; I won’t spoil it.
I found the character of Less to be annoying and unlikeable. I know there are readers that are attracted to this type of hot-mess, Peter Pan-esque, worried about aging / too vain for their own good character. I guess I’m not one of them. The narrator is fascinated with Arthur Less, infatuated even, the same way a pet owner is in love with their scrappy dog that pees on the rug while they claim it to be the cutest dog in the world. It’s not; it’s a dog that pees on the rug.
There is an airy, whimsical quality to Greer’s writing. It goes down like a fresh-baked croissant does with an espresso while sitting on the patio of a French bistro. But there is also a shallowness that is cloying. It’s lack of plot is unfortunate. And I kept thinking: What is so great about Arthur Less? More so, what is so great about Less? There is no accounting for the taste of the Pulitzer judges, I guess.
In the book, there is a passage where Arthur’s old flame, Robert, actually wins the Pulitzer Prize (just like Andrew Sean Greer did?!), then a mutual friend of theirs explains:
“Prizes aren’t love. Because people who never met you can’t love you. The slots for winners are already set, from here until Judgment Day. They know the kind of poet who’s going to win, and if you happen to fit the slot, then bully for you! It’s like fitting a hand-me-down suit. It’s luck, not love. Not that it isn’t nice to have luck… ”
I guess this novel had the luck this time. It must have been awkward for Greer to receive the Pulitzer after writing such a passage. Right? Probably not. He won the prize anyway. Bully for him.
Wonderful characters that you wish you knew. Leaves you with a feeling that in this crazy life, despite ourselves, anything is possible.
Best book I’ve read in a very long time. Just read it!
This book deserves all of the praise and accolades that have been heaped upon it. Every bit as funny as it is gorgeously written, Less is exactly what I want more of in my reading. And the rest of Greer’s works are going on my to-read list right this very minute.
Okay, yes, this book did win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2018, but it was so deserved. A page turning story about an aging gay man who must confront his unkindnesses in life, as he leaves behind his usual existence to travel around the world. Well written and just plain hilarious.
Remarkable Read, Beautiful Prose, Full of Universal Truth
Reading this novel felt to me like looking at a masterpiece of art that I slowly came to understand the longer I stared at it. It also showed me why some books, like this one, deserve a Pulitzer Prize and most others don’t.
What makes this book so wonderful is not simply a creative storyline, or a sympathetic protagonist, or important and well-integrated universal themes. It’s how Greer managed to so perfectly weaves all three together to create something so unique, so beautiful, and so full of truth.
His central character is 50ish, moderately successful writer Arthur Less, whose latest manuscript has just been rejected by his long-time publisher. Deeply discouraged, preoccupied about turning 50, and fearful that the best part of his life may be over, Less cobbles together a trip around the world out of a pile of nearly-forgotten invitations. This will give him a chance to rewrite his manuscript, as well as providing an acceptable excuse for not attending a recent lover’s wedding.
As I traveled with Less —to Italy, Germany, France, Morocco, India, and Japan — and he is reacquainted with aging friends, grabbing a few brief sexual encounters and suffering some personal humiliations, I came to care for him so deeply. Because throughout this mid-life crisis, he demonstrates such honesty, humor, and humanity — all the while struggling to give his life enough meaning to keep going.
The voice that the author gives Less is distinctive and insightful, often quirky, and so full of grace that each sentence is a pleasure to read. And you will find Less full of profound observations which will strike a cord with your own. The life questions he ponders and the deep longing for love that is at his core are so universal that I came to identify with him completely. Despite the face that I am a retired heterosexual female and Less is a mid-life gay male. The similarities between us were so overwhelming that the differences simply didn’t matter.
The novel left me crying at the end and so sorry it was over. LESS is fresh, engaging, and deeply emotional. Congratulations, Mr. Greer, on a well-deserved Pulitzer!
Arthur Less is a minor novelist who embarks on a world tour as a speaker at various literary events to avoid his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. Very funny and yet ultimately moving account of his unlikely encounters along the way.
A great read for the holidays.
My heart ached as I followed this hapless character through his search for his place in the world, but I also was very entertained by the humorous presentation of that search. I never was “told” what to think of this ineffectual protagonist, my attention was focused on cheering him on. The end came as a surprise, with a punch.
Very realistic sometimes funny and sad
A brilliant book…very deserving of it’s Pulitzer Prize. I came to love Arthur Less and thoroughly enjoyed his worldly adventures.
It was OK and not a bad read. I enjoyed reading about Less’ travels and some of the descriptions of the people he met and the clothes he wore. But cannot fathom why it won a Pulitzer. But it was fun to read anyway.
This novel has won a Pulitzer Prize and I tried to like Less, both the novel and the character, a man whose self-pity, day-to-day incompetence, helplessness and self-centredness ended up becoming really annoying.
So although Less entertained me for a while on a long train journey – Less’s misadventures in Mexico were quite funny – in the end I found it unsatisfying. The tone never varies. There is nothing much for the reader to find out. Less does this, then does that, then does something else, in episode after episode. He has sex, he has more sex, then he has yet more sex, but doesn’t seem to enjoy any of it very much and it doesn’t teach him anything he didn’t know before. The whole thing goes nowhere.
I was hoping to read a gay, American, contemporary tribute to Kingsley Amis’s brilliant classic Lucky Jim. But Less falls far short of Lucky Jim in every way. There is still a great novel to be written about a hapless, accident-prone gay American academic. I’m looking forward to reading it one day.
What a great character.
The worst book I have ever tried to read. I so disliked the book that I did not want it in this house. First time I have thrown a brand new book in the garbage.
NPR chose this for one of the Facebook book club NOW READ THIS monthly selection. Overall it has not been the member’s fan favorite this year. Less was just difficult to connect to ,for me, as I am not drawn to self absorbed characters in fiction or real life. Luckily it is a short tight story because I can’t imagine more. It won the Pulitzer Prize this year, but I loved some of the other contenders much more.
If you haven’t heard of the NPR NOW READ THIS on Facebook, and you love to read, please join the club. Some wonderful commentary/discussion with/ from other members. The book of the month is announced the first of every month and dialogue continues thru the month with usually an interview live on line with the author.
Read it in our book club and had varying opinions from charming to pathetic protagonist. Very well written, yet difficult to put oneself in the main character’s shoes without being judgmental, as everything always seemed to end well for him.
One of my top ten. If you love Ann Pachett you will love this novel.
Brilliant character and writing
At first I didn’t like it much, but the story and the characters grew on me and I became fond of them all by the end of the book. It’s very witty and ended up being poignant as well.
“Less” is fresh and funny. Andrew Sean Greer is flat out intelligent in his understanding of the human heart as well as the peculiarities of the modern publishing industry and life of a writer. We follow Arthur Less as he navigates book promotions, conferences, cocktail parties, and the slings and arrows of critics. The novel received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Greer writes with such insight about Arthur Less, a middle-aged gay man who moves as a ” lesser than” in just about every way possible, arriving too early or too late and so on. He equilibrates on numerous aspects of his life and heart. Greer clearly loves his character, writing with compassion and deep understanding.
Read this for humor and eagle eye vision about gay life, the modern publishing world which Greer is familiar as author of seven memorable novels. “Less” is a 21st century American story. For writers it serves as an excellent study of fluid prose that I had to stop to savor before eagerly moving on. Highly recommended to read on the porch in the late afternoon with a gin and tonic.