When the weather is as bad as it has been in western PA (if you don’t live here, just let me tell you, it has not been good), all I want to do is curl up in a blanket and read (or watch Netflix - both are acceptable). But I still have to go to work, so I find a little joy in getting to the bus stop three minutes before it pulls up, finding a seat, and pulling out my current read for the next 30 minutes. If only it were acceptable to bring my blanket on the bus…
Book Read: Less
Author: Andrew Sean Greer
Number of Books Read, 2019 Edition: 3
Arthur Less is avoiding something. Particularly the wedding of an ex-boyfriend. To make sure he cannot attend, he accepts invitation after invitation to things around the world. Whether it is a birthday party for a friend of a friend in Morocco, a few weeks teaching a college course in Germany, or an awards ceremony in Italy, Less accepts, all to avoid a few hour event.
Less is a mediocre writer who is about to turn 50, and dreading it. He’ll turn 50 in Morocco, his fifth stop. Like the wedding, he is trying to avoid that number. His latest novel has been rejected by his publisher, and his claims to fame are a one-hit wonder of a novel, and his former ex-boyfriend (the conference in Mexico City aka Stop #2 - about Less’s ex). Needless to say, Arthur Less is down on his luck.
But each country/city has an adventure waiting. In New York City, an interview that is supposed to be done in costume, in Japan, a review of the same meal at three different restaurants (in 2 days), or in India, where Less signs up as the only writer at a Christian Retreat Center. Chaos will no doubt follow Less across the world. But along the way, there are new friends to be made, new encounters to take his mind off things, and maybe, Less will improve that book his publisher hated.
In the end, Less is a love story. How so? You’ll have to read it to find out…
The fact that the cover of this book has a sticker telling you it won the Pulitzer Prize should make you want to pick it up. I know nothing about the criteria/expectations of a Pulitzer Prize, except that Kendrick Lamar, Hamilton, and Sweat have each received one. But I’m aware it means something in the literary world. Plus, the description of this novel is intriguing - a man will literally go around the world to avoid the wedding of an ex-boyfriend. It sounds entertaining and a bit extreme from the get-go.
When I started reading, I wondered what made this a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2018. Now that I’ve finished, I get it. This book is flat out good. Each section is based on the location Less is visiting - he arrives, something happens, he leaves. You conclude each place and are ready to follow Less to the next stop, wondering what will happen next. Will it be good or bad? Will he ever stop wearing the blue suit? Will Less be happy?
The narrator, whose identity is not revealed until the last chapter (but eventually you have an idea), describes the events with details and depth and makes you feel like you are watching it all happen. To me, that’s a great quality in a book. I want to visual it, feel as if I’m experiencing it with the characters. Andrew Sean Greer does that in Less. You’ll be rooting for Arthur Less, page after page, and maybe, his life isn’t so bad after all.
Next Read: Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
