LoveReading Says
I adored LESS, surely one of the funniest and loveliest books to win the Pulitzer Prize (I say, having read no others). LESS IS LOST is the sequel.
Even on a line-by-line basis, it’s just so bloody enjoyable. I mean, it’s got David Sedaris saying it’s 'painfully funny' on the cover, of course it’s going to be good. I’m in awe of how Greer makes his humour so in service of character development — it always feels like the jokes are there because they’re telling the story, as well as being very funny. From one-liners about the writing process (‘there may be writers whose imaginations are so fertile, they merely plant the seeds [and] a novel grows itself every year or so. But all other writers, it seems, have to provide their own manure.’) to set-pieces (recurring favourites were Less not speaking German as fluently as he thinks he can, or his definitely-not-autobiographical novel being adapted into a Great American Musical). And all the while, we get to have all the feels from the narrator being Less’s devoted but lonesome partner Freddy.
Perhaps Andrew Sean Greer will be finding another excuse to send his lovable blue-suited protagonist on another international road trip? Sign me up for a seat if so.
Lily Lindon
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Less Is Lost Synopsis
The awkward and lovable hero of Andrew Sean Greer's bestselling and prize-winning novel Less returns in this unforgettable road trip across America.
'Wildly, painfully funny' David Sedaris
'Unforgettable' Elizabeth Day
'The joyfulness of this book is a balm' Madeline Miller
'What a joy' Katie Kitamura
For Arthur Less, life is going surprisingly well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But nothing lasts: the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis has Less running away from his problems yet again as he accepts a series of literary gigs that send him on a zigzagging adventure across the US.
Less roves across the 'Mild Mild West', through the South and to his mid-Atlantic birthplace, with an ever-changing posse of writerly characters and his trusty duo - a human-like black pug, Dolly, and a rusty camper van nicknamed Rosina. He grows a handlebar mustache, ditches his signature gray suit, and disguises himself in the bolero-and-cowboy-hat costume of a true 'Unitedstatesian'... with varying levels of success, as he continues to be mistaken for either a Dutchman, the wrong writer, or, worst of all, a 'bad gay'.
We cannot, however, escape ourselves - even across deserts, bayous, and coastlines. From his estranged father and strained relationship with Freddy, to the reckoning he experiences in confronting his privilege, Arthur Less must eventually face his personal demons. With all of the irrepressible wit and musicality that made Less a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning, must-read breakout book, Less Is Lost is a profound and joyous novel about the enigma of life, the riddle of love, and the stories we tell along the way.
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