Ellen Hawkins answers “How on earth did this win the Pulitzer? I...”

Donna asked this question about Less:

How on earth did this win the Pulitzer? I found it plodding with an uninteresting protagonist.

Ellen Hawkins I realize this is an old thread, but I just finished reading this book and I have been asking myself the same question. Lol! Here's my take: it is a c…moreI realize this is an old thread, but I just finished reading this book and I have been asking myself the same question. Lol! Here's my take: it is a comedy and a love story, yes, but it's also a book about writing. The main character is a writer living in a writer's world and so I assume the members of the Pulitzer committee probably just ate that up. The book is self-referencial in that the story that Arthur is writing sounds a lot like the book we are reading and there are multiple mentions of literary prizes including the Pulitzer itself in the text. Again, I'm sure this is something that really appealed to the prize committee (oh! It's so meta!). It's much like how the film Lalaland was a movie that appealed to people in the film industry and won best picture even though it was not the best film that year imo. 'Less' isn't a terrible book (again imo) but I am scratching my head as to why it won the Pulitzer when it reads much like any other chick lit novel out there.(less)

flag

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more