Less, by Andrew Sean Greer

What a happy coincidence to read this Pulitzer-prize winning novel during Pride Month! And it really is just as funny and sweet as everybody has been saying it is. Middling author Arthur Less is approaching his fiftieth birthday when he gets invited to a former lover's wedding to another man. Hoping to avoid the awkwardness of showing up or not showing up, Less sidesteps the issue entirely by accepting every other invitation he has received: an interview in Manhattan, a prize ceremony in Italy, a teaching course in Germany, another person's birthday party in Morocco, an Indian writer's retreat, and a restaurant review in Japan. The wedding will occur while Less is in Germany; his birthday will be in Morocco.

Less is a hilarious, bumbling, confused man, and Greer's writing is sublime. I laughed out loud multiple times in the gym while sweating on the treadmill and reading this book in an effort to forget that I was sweating on a treadmill. Mistranslations and miscommunications abound on this global journey, with Less's relatable self-doubt and inability to stop dwelling on the past following him all the way. He is also incredibly sweet, and tender, and you can't help but fervently hope he finds true love by the end of the book. This is a fantastic summer read, a rare literary romance that doesn't leave you ultimately depressed or horrified.


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