Andrew Sean Greer

Winning the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the comic novel Less established a milestone in contemporary American satire by following an aging novelist on a globe-trotting journey to escape an awkward wedding invitation. Its creator, Andrew Sean Greer, is an American novelist and short story writer whose fiction ranges from bittersweet social comedies to high-concept historical and speculative narratives.

Career & Background

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised as an identical twin in its suburbs, Greer studied writing at Brown University, graduating in 1992, before earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Montana. After early years in New York working as a chauffeur, television extra, and writer, he relocated to Seattle and later San Francisco. Over his career, he has taught creative writing at institutions including Stanford University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, while also serving as Executive Director of the Santa Maddalena Foundation writer's residency in Tuscany, Italy. His honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts grant, the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Award.

Writing Style & Themes

Greer's prose is recognized for combining emotional warmth, wit, and lyrical elegance with intricate narrative structures. His novels often explore the mechanics of time, memory, love, and identity, moving between intimate character studies and inventive premises such as backwards aging, alternate realities, or midlife comic misadventures. Short fiction by Greer has appeared in prominent publications including Esquire, The Paris Review, and The New Yorker, earning him an O. Henry Award.

Major Works

• Less — This 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows Arthur Less, a mid-career writer who embarks on a chaotic international literary tour to avoid attending his former partner's wedding.
• The Confessions of Max Tivoli — Published in 2004, this acclaimed novel tells the story of a man born with the body of a 70-year-old who physically ages backward through late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century San Francisco.
• The Story of a Marriage — Set in 1950s San Francisco, this 2008 novel examines secrets, romantic devotion, and identity inside a post-war American household.
• The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells — This 2014 novel centers on a woman undergoing electroshock therapy in 1985 who finds herself transported across three distinct historical eras.
• Less Is Lost — A companion novel to Less that follows Arthur Less on a humorous road trip across the United States in the face of financial and personal troubles.