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Less (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): A Novel Kindle Edition
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Andrew Sean Greer
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Andrew Sean Greer
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| Length: 273 pages | Word Wise: Enabled | Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled |
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Treat yourself to this book. I missed subway stops. I doubled over in laughter. I experienced more pure reading pleasure than I had in ages. It is hilarious, and wise, and abundantly fun.-- "Adam Haslett, author of Imagine Me Gone"
Less is perhaps Greer's finest yet.... A comic yet moving picture of an American abroad.... Less is a wondrous achievement, deserving an even larger audience than Greer's bestselling The Confessions of Max Tivoli.-- "Booklist, starred review"
I adore this book. It's funny, piquant, bittersweet and so achingly observant about the vanity of writers that it made me squirm in recognition. I'll probably read it again very soon.-- "Armistead Maupin, author of Tales of the City"
Marvelously, unexpectedly, endearingly funny. A love story focused on the erroneous belief that the second half of life will pale in comparison to the first. Guess what? It won't!-- "Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad Love Story"
A fast and rocketing read with everything I want from a story--moments of high humor, moments of genuine wisdom, sharp insights and gorgeous images. A wonderful, wonderful book!-- "Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves"
The most deftly funny romantic comedy I've read in years. If you have a sentimental bone in your body (I have 206), the ending will make you sob little tears of joy.-- "Nell Zink, author of Mislaid and Nicotine"
Greer's evocations of the places Arthur visits offer zesty travelogue pleasures-- "Seattle Times"
Dressed in his trademark blue suit, Less adorably butchers the German language, nearly falls in love in Paris, celebrates his birthday in the desert and, somewhere along the way, discovers something new and fragile about the passing of time, about the coming and going of love, and what it means to be the fool of your own narrative. It's nothing less than wonderful.-- "Book Page"
Greer's novel is philosophical, poignant, funny and wise, filled with unexpected turns....Although Greer is gifted and subtle in comic moments, he's just as adept at ruminating on the deeper stuff. His protagonist grapples with aging, loneliness, creativity, grief, self-pity and more.-- "San Francisco Chronicle"
Greer is an exceptionally lovely writer, capable of mingling humor with sharp poignancy.... Brilliantly funny.... Greer's narration, so elegantly laced with wit, cradles the story of a man who loses everything: his lover, his suitcase, his beard, his dignity.-- "Ron Charles, Washington Post" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Less is perhaps Greer's finest yet.... A comic yet moving picture of an American abroad.... Less is a wondrous achievement, deserving an even larger audience than Greer's bestselling The Confessions of Max Tivoli.-- "Booklist, starred review"
I adore this book. It's funny, piquant, bittersweet and so achingly observant about the vanity of writers that it made me squirm in recognition. I'll probably read it again very soon.-- "Armistead Maupin, author of Tales of the City"
Marvelously, unexpectedly, endearingly funny. A love story focused on the erroneous belief that the second half of life will pale in comparison to the first. Guess what? It won't!-- "Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad Love Story"
A fast and rocketing read with everything I want from a story--moments of high humor, moments of genuine wisdom, sharp insights and gorgeous images. A wonderful, wonderful book!-- "Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves"
The most deftly funny romantic comedy I've read in years. If you have a sentimental bone in your body (I have 206), the ending will make you sob little tears of joy.-- "Nell Zink, author of Mislaid and Nicotine"
Greer's evocations of the places Arthur visits offer zesty travelogue pleasures-- "Seattle Times"
Dressed in his trademark blue suit, Less adorably butchers the German language, nearly falls in love in Paris, celebrates his birthday in the desert and, somewhere along the way, discovers something new and fragile about the passing of time, about the coming and going of love, and what it means to be the fool of your own narrative. It's nothing less than wonderful.-- "Book Page"
Greer's novel is philosophical, poignant, funny and wise, filled with unexpected turns....Although Greer is gifted and subtle in comic moments, he's just as adept at ruminating on the deeper stuff. His protagonist grapples with aging, loneliness, creativity, grief, self-pity and more.-- "San Francisco Chronicle"
Greer is an exceptionally lovely writer, capable of mingling humor with sharp poignancy.... Brilliantly funny.... Greer's narration, so elegantly laced with wit, cradles the story of a man who loses everything: his lover, his suitcase, his beard, his dignity.-- "Ron Charles, Washington Post" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
About the Author
Andrew Sean Greer is the author of several works of fiction, including The Confessions of Max Tivoli, which was named a best book of 2004 by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. He is the recipient of the Northern California Book Award, the California Book Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, the O Henry Award for short fiction, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Public Library.
Robert Petkoff is an actor and audiobook narrator who has won a prestigious Audie Award and multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards. He has appeared on Chappelle's Show, Law & Order, and Quantum Leap. His Broadway credits include Sir Robin in Spamalot, Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof, and Tateh in Ragtime.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.Product details
- Publication Date : July 18, 2017
- Print Length : 273 pages
- Word Wise : Enabled
- File Size : 4529 KB
- Publisher : Lee Boudreaux Books; 1st Edition (July 18, 2017)
- Language: : English
- ASIN : B01MSICPW3
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Enhanced Typesetting : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- X-Ray : Enabled
-
Best-sellers rank #9,965 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#7 in LGBT Humorous Fiction (Books)
#15 in Literary Satire Fiction
#18 in LGBT Literary Fiction (Kindle Store)
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Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2018
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What was the Pulitzer group thinking?!? Based on the Pulitzer designation and based on some of the endorsements from favorite writers (Ann Patchett), my book club chose "Less". All six of us (college educated women ages 35 to 71) disliked it. The criticisms were that the main character was uninteresting, unsympathetic and unrelatable; that the paltry humor was only mildly amusing (not "hysterical" as one endorsement said), the ending was predictable and anticlimactic; and that we finished reading it out of duty to the club, not because the book was compelling. In other words, we couldn't care less about "Less". The only redeeming aspect was the interesting way the author would weave past and present together in the narrative. I cannot recommend this book and the Pulitzer people need to reexamine their standards.
720 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2018
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If you're looking for a book about a neurotic gay man to whom nothing really interesting happens, and who spends an inordinate amount of time lamenting the loss of a former partner, then you'll like LESS. But if you're looking for a book with interesting characters and an actual plot, look elsewhere.
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
After I started reading Less I immediately thought “So, why did this win the Pulitzer?” Then, about half way through, I began to understand. By the time we get to Morocco with Arthur Less, I was mentally comparing Less to Lolita, though the characters are nothing alike. While you hate the protagonist Humbert in Lolita, there is no denying the power of the novel. And where you will love the protagonist Arthur Less, it is the writing that shines here, not the sweep of the story or the depth of the characters. Is there a literary genre called Profound Humorous Romps? That’s where this book belongs. This is not a “gay” book, but Arthur is gay. This is not a story about middle age, but Arthur is confronting his own aging. This is a story about how humans are constantly swimming upstream against life. This is a story about how humans are old or young or bald or sad or beautiful or boring and sometimes we are more, but sometimes we are…(wait for it)…Less. I just hope Arthur turns sixty really soon, and Andrew Greer brings us a new book so we can ride shotgun again with Less.
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2018
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I'm encouraged to see that I'm not the only one who thought this book wasn't so hot. After reading all the pages of raving blurbs, I thought I'd really be in for a treat. But I couldn't believe in it (and this is from another aging--okay, old--gay man). I spent so much energy slogging through the writer's attempts to be clever in every single sentence that I couldn't get involved with the character or story. I will admit that I laughed out loud a few times, and that's a lot more than I get out of the majority of books I read, but overall it was tedious, difficult reading. I was left wondering if "winner of the Pulitzer prize" was just part of the title--a bit of irony based on Less's older lover's having won the prize.
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2018
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I am so glad there are so many other 1 star reviews, as I was beginning to think I lacked a certain literary suaveness since I basically hated this book and it won the Pulitzer.
What’s the issue? Nothing....happened! During all his trevails all over the world, I kept expecting actual life-changing events and learnings. All that happened was continual pity parties for Less and the ongoing obsession with his ex.
I will no longer accept that I need to read a book, or that it is actually GOOD, based on what the Pulitzer Board thinks. They’ve lost major credibility to me. I could not wait for this book to be over. I gave up in the second to last chapter and literally threw the book in the trash.
What’s the issue? Nothing....happened! During all his trevails all over the world, I kept expecting actual life-changing events and learnings. All that happened was continual pity parties for Less and the ongoing obsession with his ex.
I will no longer accept that I need to read a book, or that it is actually GOOD, based on what the Pulitzer Board thinks. They’ve lost major credibility to me. I could not wait for this book to be over. I gave up in the second to last chapter and literally threw the book in the trash.
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2018
Verified Purchase
“Strange to be almost fifty, no? I feel like I just understood how to be young.”
Andrew Greer is a gifted writer and a skilled storyteller. I started reading this book with a good deal of cynical lip-curling over the precious fumbling of its title character, Arthur Less. My radar was attuned to every little bit of self-conscious “literariness,” that affectation of language through which an author separates him or herself from the herd of other writers. By the last page of the book, however, I was in tears. Somehow, Andrew Sean Greer’s feckless, nearly-fifty, aging-twink author protagonist began, against the odds, to resonate with me.
I am fifteen years older than Andrew Greer, and a decade older than the fictional Arthur Less. Why does this matter? Because age is not just a number: age is your place in history, your worldview, your experience. As a sixty-something gay man, with a husband of forty-two years, the experience of my life gives me a point of view, for good or for ill. I have opinions, especially about other gay men, and particularly about gay men in the public spotlight.
And there, you see, is part of the point. “Less” is a gay book by a gay author that won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2018. This, in the same year that a gay journalist, Ronan Farrow (age 30), won a Pulitzer for his work. This is news. This matters, especially to a gay man of my generation for whom this all feels a bit miraculous, especially given the bizarro-world of our national political scene at the moment.
Arthur Less is a writer, a novelist. He is approaching his fiftieth birthday, and has behind him two decade-long romances that both ended badly. Did they end badly because Less was an idiot? Possibly. When faced with the impending marriage of his second ex-boyfriend, Less does the only thing he can imagine to save himself: he flees. Accepting a half-dozen heretofore ignored invitations from various global destinations, he sets off, still fumbling and irritating, on a trip around the world that will help him avoid the wedding and his fiftieth birthday.
Along the way we get most of Arthur’s life. We meet the “young Arthur Less,” pretty and feckless, talent untapped, as he bumbles into his first relationship. We follow him into early middle age, when one relationship is exchanged for another. At first, it’s not clear how important these two relationships are; but with time, it becomes clear that not only were they important, they were everything.
It’s a little bit as if Arthur has been going through life not quite paying attention. He is often startled, often confused, often hurt. He is not hugely promiscuous, but he is not not promiscuous either. Arthur doesn’t seem to consider the potential significance of fidelity or monogamy. On the other hand, he’s not thinking about heteronormativity either. He doesn’t seem to give much thought to his romantic life, but just sort of takes it as it comes. It’s as if he can’t quite focus—on his writing career, on his emotional life, on the world around him.
At one point, in yet another vaguely surreal moment on his world tour, Arthur is accused of being a “bad gay” by another gay author. He is told by that author (who is presented as supercilious and pretentious), that “It is our duty to show something beautiful from our world. The gay world. But in your books, you make the characters suffer without reward.”
That moment struck me, because this very book, the book that won Greer his Pulitzer, is the first book by this gay author that includes the experience of a gay man; that includes any gay character, as far as I can tell. Greer is an author who, while his being gay is not a secret, never makes being gay a part of his public persona—at least in what I found. He is out, he has a husband, but I had to dig to find it. His other books, which include at least two best sellers, are devoid of any gay content. This book has, for the first time, made him a gay author. And even here, one of the reasons for this book’s success is that it is “A gay guy novel that even a non-gay guy can appreciate.” (Tony’s Book World)
For a gay man of my generation and from my vantage point, this rankles. As a voracious reader, who gathered a big library of contemporary gay literature in the 1970s and 80s, I am leery of gay men who, in this day and age, don’t put gay content in their books. I know this is grossly unfair, because the prejudice in the publishing world (as in Hollywood and in virtually all the arts) is still very much present, no matter what anyone tells you. The world is better than when I was born, but it is not entirely good, not by a long shot, in the way it approaches gay content and treats gay artists.
So, Greer’s first gay book, a book which surely has resonance with the artist’s own life (made doubly so by Arthur Less’s revision of his own latest unwanted novel in the course of this novel) wins him the brass ring, the Oscar of novelists. Is this ironic? Is this a message?
“Boredom is the only real tragedy for a writer; everything else is material.”
In the end, this book got five stars from me because it honored both the author’s experience as a gay man, and my experience as a survivor of gay life in a straight world. I expect no less from gay authors. None of the gay authors I read routinely will ever win a Pulitzer prize, and I’m fine with that. I’m glad that I ended up loving “Less,” because it is an important moment in the history of gay fiction. I hope the author cares about this as much as I do.
Andrew Greer is a gifted writer and a skilled storyteller. I started reading this book with a good deal of cynical lip-curling over the precious fumbling of its title character, Arthur Less. My radar was attuned to every little bit of self-conscious “literariness,” that affectation of language through which an author separates him or herself from the herd of other writers. By the last page of the book, however, I was in tears. Somehow, Andrew Sean Greer’s feckless, nearly-fifty, aging-twink author protagonist began, against the odds, to resonate with me.
I am fifteen years older than Andrew Greer, and a decade older than the fictional Arthur Less. Why does this matter? Because age is not just a number: age is your place in history, your worldview, your experience. As a sixty-something gay man, with a husband of forty-two years, the experience of my life gives me a point of view, for good or for ill. I have opinions, especially about other gay men, and particularly about gay men in the public spotlight.
And there, you see, is part of the point. “Less” is a gay book by a gay author that won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2018. This, in the same year that a gay journalist, Ronan Farrow (age 30), won a Pulitzer for his work. This is news. This matters, especially to a gay man of my generation for whom this all feels a bit miraculous, especially given the bizarro-world of our national political scene at the moment.
Arthur Less is a writer, a novelist. He is approaching his fiftieth birthday, and has behind him two decade-long romances that both ended badly. Did they end badly because Less was an idiot? Possibly. When faced with the impending marriage of his second ex-boyfriend, Less does the only thing he can imagine to save himself: he flees. Accepting a half-dozen heretofore ignored invitations from various global destinations, he sets off, still fumbling and irritating, on a trip around the world that will help him avoid the wedding and his fiftieth birthday.
Along the way we get most of Arthur’s life. We meet the “young Arthur Less,” pretty and feckless, talent untapped, as he bumbles into his first relationship. We follow him into early middle age, when one relationship is exchanged for another. At first, it’s not clear how important these two relationships are; but with time, it becomes clear that not only were they important, they were everything.
It’s a little bit as if Arthur has been going through life not quite paying attention. He is often startled, often confused, often hurt. He is not hugely promiscuous, but he is not not promiscuous either. Arthur doesn’t seem to consider the potential significance of fidelity or monogamy. On the other hand, he’s not thinking about heteronormativity either. He doesn’t seem to give much thought to his romantic life, but just sort of takes it as it comes. It’s as if he can’t quite focus—on his writing career, on his emotional life, on the world around him.
At one point, in yet another vaguely surreal moment on his world tour, Arthur is accused of being a “bad gay” by another gay author. He is told by that author (who is presented as supercilious and pretentious), that “It is our duty to show something beautiful from our world. The gay world. But in your books, you make the characters suffer without reward.”
That moment struck me, because this very book, the book that won Greer his Pulitzer, is the first book by this gay author that includes the experience of a gay man; that includes any gay character, as far as I can tell. Greer is an author who, while his being gay is not a secret, never makes being gay a part of his public persona—at least in what I found. He is out, he has a husband, but I had to dig to find it. His other books, which include at least two best sellers, are devoid of any gay content. This book has, for the first time, made him a gay author. And even here, one of the reasons for this book’s success is that it is “A gay guy novel that even a non-gay guy can appreciate.” (Tony’s Book World)
For a gay man of my generation and from my vantage point, this rankles. As a voracious reader, who gathered a big library of contemporary gay literature in the 1970s and 80s, I am leery of gay men who, in this day and age, don’t put gay content in their books. I know this is grossly unfair, because the prejudice in the publishing world (as in Hollywood and in virtually all the arts) is still very much present, no matter what anyone tells you. The world is better than when I was born, but it is not entirely good, not by a long shot, in the way it approaches gay content and treats gay artists.
So, Greer’s first gay book, a book which surely has resonance with the artist’s own life (made doubly so by Arthur Less’s revision of his own latest unwanted novel in the course of this novel) wins him the brass ring, the Oscar of novelists. Is this ironic? Is this a message?
“Boredom is the only real tragedy for a writer; everything else is material.”
In the end, this book got five stars from me because it honored both the author’s experience as a gay man, and my experience as a survivor of gay life in a straight world. I expect no less from gay authors. None of the gay authors I read routinely will ever win a Pulitzer prize, and I’m fine with that. I’m glad that I ended up loving “Less,” because it is an important moment in the history of gay fiction. I hope the author cares about this as much as I do.
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2018
Verified Purchase
There are some beautiful turns of phrase in here, and some good characters and an interesting story. I read it and enjoyed it, but a Pulitzer??! No. I think not. It just didn't have enough- of anything! Characters weren't deep enough or real enough, writing wasn't amazing enough, story wasn't interesting enough. It needed more. Shame on you, Pulitzer committee.
Top international reviews
Lola
2.0 out of 5 stars
EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING (for a Pulitzer-winner)!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2018Verified Purchase
Jesus. How did this book get a Pulitzer (as the best book of fiction of 2017!). How did that happen? It does not compare to "Goldfinch" or "Gone With the Wind" or "A Visit from the Goon Squad". Less (as a hero and as a book) does not compare.
Boring, boring, boring, uninspiring, repetitive, boring, thank God quite short.
Oh yes it is about love - but written in such an uninspiring language!
I have never heard of Andrew Sean Greer and I hope to never hear of him again.
Boring, boring, boring, uninspiring, repetitive, boring, thank God quite short.
Oh yes it is about love - but written in such an uninspiring language!
I have never heard of Andrew Sean Greer and I hope to never hear of him again.
49 people found this helpful
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Al
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2018Verified Purchase
This is a beautifully crafted tale about romantic relationships, especially where there is a significant age gap between the partners, loss, rejection and fears of aging and loneliness, all of it overlaid with some good humour, resulting from the maladroitness of the protagonist, Arthur Less.
Less is coming up to his 50th birthday when his younger partner of many years walks out on him and goes off to marry a new partner closer in age; Less is invited to the wedding and, fearing that he will look pitiful and pathetic if he turns up at it or pitiful and resentful if he does not turn up at it, decides to avoid the situation by going abroad, on a series of adventures (and misadventures).
Less is gay and the whole tale is set in a homosexual context, however I think this is incidental and that the story and issues it deals with would work just as well in a heterosexual context; it works perfectly for me and I am a lifelong, committed heterosexual.
I wonder if sales of the book to straight readers are hindered by Amazon's classification system, with it being identified as "Gay & Lesbian", "Gay" and "Gay Romance" but maybe this does not matter, as I recently noticed that "The Darling Buds Of May" from H E Bates is identified in "Home & Garden" as "Cottage Gardens", "Gardens In Britain" and "Trees & Shrubs".
A really great read.
Less is coming up to his 50th birthday when his younger partner of many years walks out on him and goes off to marry a new partner closer in age; Less is invited to the wedding and, fearing that he will look pitiful and pathetic if he turns up at it or pitiful and resentful if he does not turn up at it, decides to avoid the situation by going abroad, on a series of adventures (and misadventures).
Less is gay and the whole tale is set in a homosexual context, however I think this is incidental and that the story and issues it deals with would work just as well in a heterosexual context; it works perfectly for me and I am a lifelong, committed heterosexual.
I wonder if sales of the book to straight readers are hindered by Amazon's classification system, with it being identified as "Gay & Lesbian", "Gay" and "Gay Romance" but maybe this does not matter, as I recently noticed that "The Darling Buds Of May" from H E Bates is identified in "Home & Garden" as "Cottage Gardens", "Gardens In Britain" and "Trees & Shrubs".
A really great read.
25 people found this helpful
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Finola
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tedious
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2018Verified Purchase
Disappointed in this book. So surprised it’s won the Pulitzer. It’s a series of dull chapters staged in different countries. I never managed to connect with the protagonist Less. Was simply bored by his ‘adventures’ and the peripheral characters.
31 people found this helpful
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Bluecashmere.
1.0 out of 5 stars
A pulitzer prize winner?????
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2019Verified Purchase
This is not only the most tedious book I have read for some years, but also totally lacking in weight or substance. When I think of really fine American writers like Cormac MacCarthy and Donna Tartt - so very different but both marvellous - , I feel dumbfounded that accolades have been showered on this book. We are presented with a leaden, dull, central character in a world of meaningless froth. Sadly, I cannot find a single virtue to point up.
18 people found this helpful
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Basso Profundo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely funny and insightful book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2018Verified Purchase
It's a book apparently being written by someone about whom we know very little, about a Californian gay writer approaching 50, who is travelling the world, partly to avoid a wedding, and partly to re-work his novel about a middle-aged gay author. The book never loses itself down this rabbit-hole, but it never forgets it either, and manages to be internally consistent it a very deft way.
The humour comes not from slapstick situations, but almost entirely from the beautiful writing - the irony, the restraint, the eye for absurd detail. It's not a world I know at all, but it is consistently believable and yet very strange.
The humour comes not from slapstick situations, but almost entirely from the beautiful writing - the irony, the restraint, the eye for absurd detail. It's not a world I know at all, but it is consistently believable and yet very strange.
14 people found this helpful
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Worldtrekker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sublime
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2018Verified Purchase
Reading the other reviews this appears to be a "love it or hate it" work. Personally, I loved it. I normally steer clear of anything award winning as I frequently find them self indulgent and painfully pretentious, written to appeal to other literati and the judges, not the reader. But this one rose above all that, without compromising on quality of writing, and for once I felt this deserved the award and the praise.
If you need your reading matter to be plot driven with great dialogue, this may not be the one for you. But there is enough plot to drive the story forward, and to make you want to join Less on his journey, and I found it easy to warm to him as a character. There are touching insights, moments of wry comedy, some keen life observations, and all presented in a style of prose that at times borders on poetic. Most of the time I just wanted to give Less a hug, as he blunders through life not realising his own worth, which I suspect will resonate with many. Honestly, give it a go, it's a fairly light read (particularly for a prize winner) and the depictions of his travels are colourful and entertaining, his thoughts on life and his relationships are touching and pertinent, I suspect, to many. I couldn't put this down, and I suspect it's a book I will re-read from time to time. I look forward to reading more by this author.
If you need your reading matter to be plot driven with great dialogue, this may not be the one for you. But there is enough plot to drive the story forward, and to make you want to join Less on his journey, and I found it easy to warm to him as a character. There are touching insights, moments of wry comedy, some keen life observations, and all presented in a style of prose that at times borders on poetic. Most of the time I just wanted to give Less a hug, as he blunders through life not realising his own worth, which I suspect will resonate with many. Honestly, give it a go, it's a fairly light read (particularly for a prize winner) and the depictions of his travels are colourful and entertaining, his thoughts on life and his relationships are touching and pertinent, I suspect, to many. I couldn't put this down, and I suspect it's a book I will re-read from time to time. I look forward to reading more by this author.
12 people found this helpful
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St Colms
4.0 out of 5 stars
Less is More
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2018Verified Purchase
I was surprised I liked this novel as much as I did. I feared it might be a novel addressed to a small sophisticated gay community on the West Coast of America, but it is more than that. It is about a writer going through a mid-life crisis, it is about love, loss, a friendship between a young acolyte and an older writer. It's about travel, conferences and chance encounters. And it is really funny at times. Brilliant.
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Bernie Gourley
5.0 out of 5 stars
A hapless author travels the world to avoid the wedding of his ex-
Reviewed in India on December 13, 2018Verified Purchase
The book’s eponymous protagonist, Arthur Less, goes on an eight-country world tour in order to avoid the wedding of his ex-boyfriend and the emotional turmoil inherent in that event. Faced with a looming invitation, Less isn’t up for the torture of attending, but neither can he decline without a good reason without seeming petty, sullen, or both. And, even if he does decline, he doesn’t want to be around the acquaintances who will pity him, attempt to comfort him, or both. With that in mind, he gathers together a collection of invitations for writing assignments, a writers’ conference, and an adjunct teaching assignment, and cobbles together an itinerary that will keep him out of the country until well after the wedding.
Less is a novelist of some renown, which is to say one of his books was highly regarded -- though his others were far less so -- and he long lived in the shadow of one of America’s great men of letters with whom he had a long-term relationship. The comedic tone of the book is set by the hapless nature we see in the character. He finds himself a secondary figure in the high-brow world of American literature, but is never completely at ease and confident in that space. Of course, when he sets out traveling in Mexico, Europe, Morocco, India, and Japan, he finds himself even less at ease than usual.
There are various mishaps along the way that make this book comedic in nature, but it also has a nostalgic melancholy about it. Not only did Less’s relationship break up followed rapidly by his ex-boyfriend becoming engaged, but one thing will happen during his travels that he can’t escape – he will turn 50. This milestone causes him to reflect upon what he might have done differently, but also causes him concern that he hasn’t enough life left to make a good go of living – either as a writer or as someone who would like to be in a relationship again.
I won’t get into the ending in detail, but will say that I was pleased to see that it didn’t just peter out into Less’s return home, but rather leaves the reader with some food for thought via the turn of events one learns about.
Needless to say, I’d recommend this book for fiction readers – particularly literary fiction readers, though it is light, readable, and short for literary fiction. This book won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Less is a novelist of some renown, which is to say one of his books was highly regarded -- though his others were far less so -- and he long lived in the shadow of one of America’s great men of letters with whom he had a long-term relationship. The comedic tone of the book is set by the hapless nature we see in the character. He finds himself a secondary figure in the high-brow world of American literature, but is never completely at ease and confident in that space. Of course, when he sets out traveling in Mexico, Europe, Morocco, India, and Japan, he finds himself even less at ease than usual.
There are various mishaps along the way that make this book comedic in nature, but it also has a nostalgic melancholy about it. Not only did Less’s relationship break up followed rapidly by his ex-boyfriend becoming engaged, but one thing will happen during his travels that he can’t escape – he will turn 50. This milestone causes him to reflect upon what he might have done differently, but also causes him concern that he hasn’t enough life left to make a good go of living – either as a writer or as someone who would like to be in a relationship again.
I won’t get into the ending in detail, but will say that I was pleased to see that it didn’t just peter out into Less’s return home, but rather leaves the reader with some food for thought via the turn of events one learns about.
Needless to say, I’d recommend this book for fiction readers – particularly literary fiction readers, though it is light, readable, and short for literary fiction. This book won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
26 people found this helpful
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UMTdoc
5.0 out of 5 stars
A voyage for the soul
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2019Verified Purchase
I loved this book from start to finish. Totally engaging, thought-provoking at every turn. I loved Arthur Less and his journey around the world. In places it read a little like a David Lodge novel where writers or academics find themselves in comically-confusing situations abroad. I especially loved the sections of Morocco and ( best of all ) , Kerala in India. I wished these had been longer. There was a real sense of place in the detail.
This is an uplifting read too. Arthur is a hero for our times, looking back on his golden young years, past loves, regrets, career and friends. But bravely moving forward, with or without his luggage.
This is an uplifting read too. Arthur is a hero for our times, looking back on his golden young years, past loves, regrets, career and friends. But bravely moving forward, with or without his luggage.
5 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amor vincit...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2018Verified Purchase
It is the first (openly) gay novel I've read since les Copains many moons ago, though much by and about Maugham. The relationship between narrator and author is , significantly as it happens, the first noticeable quantity. There seems an unkindness that is unusual and I find myself wondering is it an effect of sexuality. But the closeness of observation betrays a sympathy which grows; indeed the rest of the novel reads as a redemption of the main character. There is much camp (am I imagining this) drôlerie, and moments of LOL humour but it all resolves itself to the heart warming(?) kindly love story it was always struggling to become.
3 people found this helpful
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Will
1.0 out of 5 stars
Painfull
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2019Verified Purchase
Part really bad travelogue, part tiresome musings on middle age; there is nothing remotely sympathetic about the main character (think cliched musings and unamusing carping about first world problems) _ or any of the other characters who are two-dimensional and wooden in construction. There is, of course the cliche of the younger gay lover falling out of love with the older gay man (yawn). Liberally scattered with painfully obvious literary and artistic metaphors (“Zohra screams and points to where sits, on a wooden platform and turning as if interrupted at tea (or déjeuner sur l’herbe)”). Similarly, referencing Proust doesn’t make your prose Proustian. Lord knows how this won a Pulitzer; make the judges like reading a narcissistic novel about the travails of a narcissistic writer.
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JaquiP
3.0 out of 5 stars
"So many people "will do" "But once you've been in live, you can't live with "will do". "
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2019Verified Purchase
Well, that's basically the story really. Arthur Less searching for himself and examining what it means to love. How would I describe the book? Whimsical, charming, multi layered, beautifully written, poignant even. Did I enjoy it? Somewhat. Why did I read it? I wanted to experience for myself what makes a book so outstanding that it becomes a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Why? I don't know. I am sure I've read books I enjoyed more. I know Arthur Less is on a journey, this book echoing the book he thinks he is trying to write and it's sweet and interesting and well observed but, for an ordinary reader like me it's a bit of a marmite book. Yes, I want to read (sometimes) great literature as opposed to a great story. Yes, it was interesting and extremely well written, but did I love it..? ... No. I don't think I did. Maybe I need to read more Pulitzer prize winning novels to see if this book is typical of the kind of books that win. If it is, I think I'll stick to my normal kind of choice, although I do dip in and out of genres. I don't get what makes it supposedly so worthy. Pleasant, for me, but not outstanding. Maybe I'm just not intellectual enough for a book that meanders excessively along without engaging my heart in the way I thought it would.
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C.Campbell
1.0 out of 5 stars
All so repetitive and predictable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2019Verified Purchase
I only got half way through. Perhaps it improved later. But, at least in the first half, this was the story of a man who felt bad about himself and kept feeling bad about himself no matter what he did or where he went. And no matter how hard he tried not to. I started to get a Groundhog Day sort of feeling and gave up.
3 people found this helpful
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Patrician
2.0 out of 5 stars
Indigestible Verbiage.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2019Verified Purchase
After reading the sample I thought this book looked rather promising, with its hapless author protagonist Arthur Less, many times published but never quite making it to the top, described with gentle humour.
This impression didn’t last however. Andrew Sean Greer describes how Less grasps an opportunity to travel round the world for little cost promoting other writers, appearing at second rate seminars etc; & at this point the prose accelerates to become not merely playful, but hectic, feverish, stuffed full of metaphor, minutiae & simile, & words, words, words. For example he describes the offerings of an exotic market stall in meticulous but colourful detail.
It’s all very clever but is totally indigestible. It’s exactly as if Greer has had a thesaurus at hand & tried to include every word in the book. And as if he’s travelled the world, or consulted travel books, taking note of every detail of exotica. I hardly exaggerate.
Meanwhile, Less gets lost in amongst all this verbiage.
I have to confess I can’t speak for the entire book, as I only managed to struggle through to the 20% point, then had to give up.
This impression didn’t last however. Andrew Sean Greer describes how Less grasps an opportunity to travel round the world for little cost promoting other writers, appearing at second rate seminars etc; & at this point the prose accelerates to become not merely playful, but hectic, feverish, stuffed full of metaphor, minutiae & simile, & words, words, words. For example he describes the offerings of an exotic market stall in meticulous but colourful detail.
It’s all very clever but is totally indigestible. It’s exactly as if Greer has had a thesaurus at hand & tried to include every word in the book. And as if he’s travelled the world, or consulted travel books, taking note of every detail of exotica. I hardly exaggerate.
Meanwhile, Less gets lost in amongst all this verbiage.
I have to confess I can’t speak for the entire book, as I only managed to struggle through to the 20% point, then had to give up.
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last year's girl
4.0 out of 5 stars
Less will sweep you away
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2019Verified Purchase
A wickedly funny, yet gently affectionate, satirical romp about a b-list literary writer who, in an attempt to avoid an invite to the wedding of an ex-lover, accepts every invite that comes his way for an extended period – from chairing a beloved fantasy author at a literary festival, to a Japanese travel feature that involves eating the same dinner four times in a 24-hour period – so good it won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Greer delights in the little details of “that crazy quilt of a writer’s life: warm enough, though it never quite covers the toes” – and you’ll be swept away with him.
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