Less in Tackling the Pulitzer Prize Winners!

Jul 10, 2018 Mary rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Greer’s writing is superb and there are humorous moments, but all in all the serendipitous life of Arthur Less left me feeling like I, or someone, should give him a good ass kicking.

Stop being so unhappy Arthur. Take charge of your life. While His trip takes Less to some magical and funny places, travel does not seem to change him.

I too would have fallen for the genius poet and put up with all his whims for the sake of poetry. The ending of the novel redeems it but Arthur still hasn’t changed ...more

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Jun 13, 2018 Donna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzer-prize-winner

This one started slow for me and kept on picking up energy.

Ultimately I really liked this book - Arthur Less is always “less” than what he realizes.

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Nov 12, 2019 Lisa of Hopewell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, pulitzer-prize-winners, read-in-2019

The Story

“…Less finds himself searching for an appropriate prayer. He was, however, raised Unitarian so he has only Joan Baez to turn to and ‘Diamonds and Rust’ gives no solace.”

Andrew Less wants to escape his life. His ex-lover is getting married throwing him into a spin. Less accepts a writing assignment and travels to it via the world. A one-time bright light in the “Russian River School” of poets and writers, Arthur Less today is well, less than that. Told in shifting scenes back-and-forth i The Story

“…Less finds himself searching for an appropriate prayer. He was, however, raised Unitarian so he has only Joan Baez to turn to and ‘Diamonds and Rust’ gives no solace.”

Andrew Less wants to escape his life. His ex-lover is getting married throwing him into a spin. Less accepts a writing assignment and travels to it via the world. A one-time bright light in the “Russian River School” of poets and writers, Arthur Less today is well, less than that. Told in shifting scenes back-and-forth in time, the novel shows us a sometimes, funny, often wonderfully ridiculous, middle-aged gay man whose life is less than he’d like it to be.
My Thoughts

I found Andrew Less to be an amusing character. The ordinariness of his novelist’s life was fun. I loved his run-ins with red-tape–like getting a refund on VAT-taxes. And then there were the all-too-real conference and talking head show scenes. Loved, loved, loved them! Those were the scenes that made the book so fun.

I liked, too, that Arthur Less encountered a group of Christians and didn’t go off on how bigotted they were–of course, they weren’t Americans so maybe that is why.

Had I picked this up without the Pulitzer Prize winner billing, I’d have really thought it as good. But what the heck? How did this beach-read earn the Pulitzer Prize for fiction? I must have missed some massive symbolism of something. I fun read–sure, absolutely. A memorable character? Sure. Think all those The Something Something Life of Somebody Somebody-titled books about quirky characters only male. That’s Less. The author must have set the world’s best lobbyists to work on the Pulitzer committee. To compare this to The Underground Railroad, The Killer Angels, The Color Purple, The Caine Mutiny, or The Good Earth (other Pulitzer Prize winners) is laughable.
My Verdict
3.5

A fun read, well worth your time, but forget Pulitzer Prize winner status.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

I learned of this book via this review: https://bvitelli2002.wordpress.com/20... ...more

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May 13, 2018 Kathy McC rated it liked it

Shelves: pulitzer-winners

I was one of the few readers who was not a fan of Eat, Pray, Love the memoir of a woman who goes through a rough patch in life and because of her privileged life she travels the world in search of "herself". While Less is fiction, it is based on the same premise. The fact that it was fiction made it easier, but I just couldn't buy into, or feel any connection to, the main character.
It won the 2018 Pulitzer, so it goes without saying that the prose was lovely. There were times when it seemed ...more

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Mar 12, 2019 Dree rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-reads, pulitzer-all-winner-short, lgbtq, california-book-club

How to start...

I did not dislike this nearly as much as I expected to (I would NEVER have picked it up on my own, based solely on the cover). But I really do not think it deserved the Pulitzer. It's too light and too trying-to-be-funny.

In many ways, this novel reminded me of Where'd You Go, Bernadette Where'd You Go, Bernadette, which I loved when I read it. I could completely relate to the mom school politics and the crazy PTA moms--so many reviewers said people like that don't exist. Oh yes the ...more

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Apr 27, 2023 Courtney rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzers

Not what I expected from a Pulitzer (2018) because it felt a little like Eat Pray Love but fictional, for gay men, and a little self-loathing and rambling. But there were some interesting writing elements, like an irregularly paced timeline, the conceit of Pulitzer talk within a Pulitzer, and an exploration of aging (and the extent we are willing to go to avoid a situation). My favorite part was how the writing realistically captured the comedy of language barrier.

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Dec 16, 2018 Shatterlings rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 09, 2018 Amanda rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, books-i-own, pulitzer-fiction

Not a huge fan, but the last line of the book was entertaining enough to bump it up to three stars.

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Apr 25, 2018 Alex Hairston rated it it was amazing

I came here to say “Less” is more. Get it?

In any case, this book was heartfelt and amazing. The writing flows easily and the story is affecting. It’s easy to look on the bleak side but reading this book, you learn to see the bright side.

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