Less: A Novel (The Arthur Books, 1) (The Arthur Less Books, 1)

When you put four well-read, middle-aged, opinionated women together to discuss a book, it’s rare you get any kind of unanimity of opinion, but Less, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, was the exception. We all rated it 5/5.Many people, I think, fall into the trap of believing a “great” book cannot be funny. For a book to be considered worthy it must be ponderous and serious. It has to deal with “heavy’ issues. Well, Less deals with one of life’s heaviest issues: love. And it does so with humor.Arthur Less, a gay novelist with a minor literary success to his credit, is about to turn 50, which is difficult enough, but he also has to deal with his former (much younger) lover’s marriage to someone else. Arthur can neither attend the wedding nor refuse to attend, so he searches through his collection of mail and takes out every invitation to a conference or award presentation he has received in the prior year and decides to accept them all. This takes him literally around the world to Mexico, Italy, France, Morocco, Japan, and India giving him an excuse not to have to see the love of his life say “I do” to someone else.His travels bring him into contact with a number of “characters” while he deals with his memories of past loves, and the pain of losing his most recent lover, Freddy, to someone else. All these vignettes allow the reader to get a firmer grasp on Arthur Less as a person, and he turns out to be both enigmatic and endearing. The one trait that is clear is he truly loves FreddEdity. Truly, madly, deeply. His travels to avoid attending the marriage don’t allow him to avoid his feelings and memories.Less has a satisfying ending (which I would never spoil), and that isn’t easy.When you put four well-read, middle-aged, opinionated women together to discuss a book, it’s rare you get any kind of unanimity of opinion, but Less, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, was the exception. We all rated it 5/5.Many people, I think, fall into the trap of believing a “great” book cannot be funny. For a book to be considered worthy it must be ponderous and serious. It has to deal with “heavy’ issues. Well, Less deals with one of life’s heaviest issues: love. And it does so with humor.Arthur Less, a gay novelist with a minor literary success to his credit, is about to turn 50, which is difficult enough, but he also has to deal with his former (much younger) lover’s marriage to someone else. Arthur can neither attend the wedding nor refuse to attend, so he searches through his collection of mail and takes out every invitation to a conference or award presentation he has received in the prior year and decides to accept them all. This takes him literally around the world to Mexico, Italy, France, Morocco, Japan, and India giving him an excuse not to have to see the love of his life say “I do” to someone else.His travels bring him into contact with a number of “characters” while he deals with his memories of past loves, and the pain of losing his most recent lover, Freddy, to someone else. All these vignettes allow the reader to get a firmer grasp on Arthur Less as a person, and he turns out to be both enigmatic and endearing. The one trait that is clear is he truly loves Freddy. Truly, madly, deeply. His travels to avoid attending the marriage don’t allow him to avoid his feelings and memories.Less has a satisfying ending (which I would never spoil), and that isn’t easy.(Linda)You could say it's a gay story. Others have. But really it's a love story, universal in its theme of love, loss, aging, triumph, acceptance and resolution. So please don't let that stop you from reading this wonderful, funny, heartbreaking book. Arthur Less is Everyman, or even Everywoman, who has ever been in love.And the descriptive writing! A marvel of beautiful run on sentences dripping with similes and metaphors. I felt the narrator, revealed at the end of the book, literally drilled me into each new scene with machine gun speed and accuracy. Masterful!(Barbara) I was reading a piece in the LA Times by Quinn Cummings as she paid tribute to the great Neil Simon. As a 9-year-old she starred in the stage production of The Goodbye Girl with Marsha Mason as her mother. She remarked that “to be meaningful, comedy needs to be about discomfort, about being the outsider……..” And certainly Andrew Sean Greer succeeded when he wrote Less. The subtle humor made me smile throughout the book, from his backwards laugh (ah ah ah) to his brilliant blue suit to the bumbling happenings in each of the countries traveled. And in each of those countries he began to find himself. I loved the beautifully written prose from the very beginning of the book. How can you not love this: “By his forties, all he has managed to grow is a gentle sense of himself, akin to the transparent carapace of a soft-shelled crab.” The metaphors and similes throughout the book were memorable as were his reminiscences of having lived with a genius in his early adulthood. My friend Barbara once explained to me that the most difficult part about writing a story is writing the ending, and after having read hundreds of books I can see that few really achieve this well. Greer is an exception because the ending here is perfect.(Marianne)

Less is so much more than an episodic ramble through the life of an aging gay man who bumbles rather than forges his way toward fifty. The laugh-out-loud unique, sometimes poignant similes and juxtapositions make this book a literary treat, a model to help students learn concise, exhilarating writing.

The book is funny,serious, and full of truisms, and a poignant love story. I chose it because it won the Pulitzer Prize. The author writes with intelligence and wit. And I recommend the book to anyone who would appreciate intelligence and wit, gay or straight. I am an elderly grandmother who is straight , and stayed up till 2AM because I could not put it down and the laughter kept me awake.

Like any curious writer, I occasionally read the award-winning books of the Pulitzer and Booker variety. I also watch award-winning movies (Oscars, Golden Globes, etc.) and listen to award-winning albums (Grammys, Pulitzer, et al.). I like to see what all the hub-bub is about and judge for myself. I really wanted to love Less by Andrew Sean Greer. It’s classified as humorous (awesome) literary (even better) fiction. That’s my wheelhouse (disclaimer: I also write humorous literary fiction). Unfortunately, I didn’t love it. Sad, I know.Published book blurb for Less: 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. How do you arrange to skip town? You accept them all.This is the setup to how Arthur Less avoids suffering and humiliation. He escapes. And this is what Greer uses to setup a series of comedic situations to drop author Arthur Less into. Some are amusing. Arthur believes he’s fluent in German (he’s not). His translated books are brilliant overseas (they’re not. Maybe artfully translated). Comedic (?) foibles unfold. Arthur flies around the world, takes pills, hops in the sack(s) with various assistants and travel companions. He ruminates about past transgressions. Or does he since the book is narrated by someone else. This someone’s identity is the novel’s big reveal. Don’t worry; I won’t spoil it.I found the character of Less to be annoying and unlikeable. I know there are readers that are attracted to this type of hot-mess, Peter Pan-esque, worried about aging / too vain for their own good character. I guess I'm not one of them. The narrator is fascinated with Arthur Less, infatuated even, the same way a pet owner is in love with their scrappy dog that pees on the rug while they claim it to be the cutest dog in the world. It’s not; it’s a dog that pees on the rug.There is an airy, whimsical quality to Greer’s writing. It goes down like a fresh-baked croissant does with an espresso while sitting on the patio of a French bistro. But there is also a shallowness that is cloying. It’s lack of plot is unfortunate. And I kept thinking: What is so great about Arthur Less? More so, what is so great about Less? There is no accounting for the taste of the Pulitzer judges, I guess.In the book, there is a passage where Arthur’s old flame, Robert, actually wins the Pulitzer Prize (just like Andrew Sean Greer did?!), then a mutual friend of theirs explains:“Prizes aren’t love. Because people who never met you can’t love you. The slots for winners are already set, from here until Judgment Day. They know the kind of poet who’s going to win, and if you happen to fit the slot, then bully for you! It’s like fitting a hand-me-down suit. It’s luck, not love. Not that it isn’t nice to have luck... "I guess this novel had the luck this time. It must have been awkward for Greer to receive the Pulitzer after writing such a passage. Right? Probably not. He won the prize anyway. Bully for him.

How come I didn't discover this book earlier? Full of wit, wisdom and humour. Can't wait to read it again

Less è il libro più gradevole e divertente che abbia letto negli ultimi mesi.Il protagonista, goffo ma non troppo, ingenuo ma non stupido, esce vincitore da varie lotte intestine nel mondo degli artisti gay statunitensi dopo varie avventure in paesi diversi descritti dall'autore con originalità e grande sense of humour.Uno dei meriti di questo scrittore è di non essere mai troppo descrittivo nè volgare nelle scene intime fra i vari personaggi.

this was SPECTACULAR!! like i can really list the times it made me cry... Arthur and Robert deserves the world!!! It's easily one of my fav✨

EL MEJOR LIBRO DEL AÑO POR MUCHO; UNA OBRA MAESTRA!!!Estoy verdaderamente encantado, no puedo dejar de pensar en este libro, quiero leerlo mil veces, me fascinó.

Comprei por ter sido uma obra laureada com o Pulitzer e talvez por isso estivesse com as expectativas altas demais. Na minha opinião o livro tem muitas premissas excelentes, mas não há desenvolvimento na história. O personagem foge de todos os seus conflitos pessoais com as viagens que planejou ao redor do mundo, não cresce emocionalmente, nem com as novas culturas... Volta pra casa. Tem um final aparentemente feliz... E fim.