Less by Andrew Sean Greer

My friend Stuart’s house is like a shining oasis of fun in the middle of San Francisco. Whenever I walk up the steps to his front door, I am immediately transformed into an evening of crisp white wine, deep conversation and food better than any restaurant you can imagine, thanks to his partner Ryan, who is a professional chef. Recently, on such a festive evening, I found myself walking over to Stuart’s coffee table and picking up this book, “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer. I knew the book had won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2018, but I had never read it. Stuart immediately handed me the book, and said “Here. Read it. Bring it back next time.” It turns out that Greer also lives in San Francisco not far from Stuart’s home. I dove into “Less” and was fascinated by the tale of Arthur Less, a failed novelist who is about to turn 50. When a wedding invitation arrives from Arthur’s boyfriend of nine years who is now engaged to another man, Arthur is sent into a tailspin of anxiety. He would rather do anything than turn 50 and go to this wedding. So, he finds his exit strategy by accepting a series of less-than-top notch literary speaking engagements around the world. The event and the location are not the most important thing to Arthur. Rather, the need to escape from his life, and his aging future, is foremost in his mind. His life on the run takes him to Mexico, Italy, Morocco, India, Japan, France and Germany. Seeing the world through Arthur’s eyes is to be guided by a witty, observant, well-skilled master. No matter what country he is in, no matter what predicament he is in, we are compelled to follow Arthur Less, anywhere, because it is a joy to be his traveling companion. His struggles are a reflection of our own lives, when we were on the cusp of turning 50. His story is not only entertaining but poignant and universal. To buy this book on Amazon click here.