Name: Less
Rating: 3.6777777777777776 (315 reviews)
ISBN: 9788893442787

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

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.

QUESTION: How do you arrange to skip town?

ANSWER: You accept them all.

Because, despite all these mishaps, missteps, misunderstandings and mistakes, Less is, above all, a love story.

"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

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

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.

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

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.

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

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.

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§Synopsis

§About the Author

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Major Works

§Featured Series

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§About the Author

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

§About the Author

Career & Background

Writing Style & Themes

Major Works

§Featured Series

Less

§Featured Series

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