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A worthy heir to Johns Irving and Updike, Greer has fashioned a masterful globe-trotting delight, replete with glorious comic set pieces and withering wit. The picaresque story of a down-at-heel writer fleeing from his ghosts in a variety of colourful settings, Less is a fresh, funny read with real substance.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for 2018
Less is the story of a 49-year-old writer, Arthur Less. Caught in a cycle of bad reviews and reduced to interviewing blockbuster-writing hacks for no fee, Arthur’s life is in freefall. Then, to crown his descent, he learns that his former boyfriend is about to get married. Determined to avoid the wedding - and heartbreak – at all costs, he decides to embark on a trip around the world, accepting invitations to a series of half-baked lectures and literary events.
From almost falling in love in Paris, almost falling to death in Berlin, to booking himself as the (only) writer on a residency in India, and an encounter in a desert with the last person on earth he wishes to see, Less is a novel about missteps, misunderstanding and mistakes.
Counting John Updike, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers and John Irving among his many admirers Andrew Sean Greer has been steadily making a name as a writer to watch. Less is a tour de force offering; a book that will have you aching with laughter one moment and cut to the core the next. Excellent fun and endlessly surprising, it’s a novel about life’s unexpected turns and the resilience of hope. As the New York Times puts it, ‘no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful’; it’s a joy to read.
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN: 9780349143590
Number of pages: 272
Weight: 220 g
Dimensions: 196 x 126 x 24 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'I adore this book.' - Armistead Maupin
'You will sob little tears of joy.' - Nell Zink
'Marvellously, unexpectedly, endearingly funny.' - Gary Shteyngart
'Greer is one of the most talented writers around.' - Michael Chabon
'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
'I could not love Less more.' - Ron Charles, The Washington Post
'Greer's evocations of the places Arthur visits offer zesty travelogue pleasures.' - Seattle Times
'Greer elevates Less' picaresque journey into a wise and witty novel. This is no Eat, Pray Love story of touristic uplift, but rather a grand travelogue of foibles, humiliations and self-deprecation, ending in joy, and a dollop of self-knowledge.' - National Book Review
'Greer, the author of wonderful, heartfelt novels including The Confessions of Max Tivoli, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells and The Story of a Marriage, shows he has another powerful weapon in his arsenal: comedy. And who doesn't need a laugh right about now?' - Miami Herald
'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
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“4/5”
I enjoyed reading this book and the many places it takes you to. There are many passages in which you are taken on a journey onto the life of Arthur Less.
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