{"product_id":"less-9780349143590","title":"Less","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"+2\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eYou will sob little tears of joy\u003c\/b\u003e'' Nell Zink\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eI recommend it with my whole heart\u003c\/b\u003e'' Ann Patchett\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eThis book is basically perfect\u003c\/b\u003e'' Dolly Alderton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eCharming, languid and incredibly funny,\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e I absolutely adored Arthur'' \u003c\/b\u003eJenny Colgan \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eMarvellously, endearingly, unexpectedly funny\u003c\/b\u003e'' Gary Shteyngart\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eI adore this book\u003c\/b\u003e'' Armistead Maupin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eBedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful\u003c\/b\u003e'' \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eBook Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eA fast and rocketing read . . . a wonderful, wonderful book!\u003c\/b\u003e'' Karen Joy Fowler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eHilarious, and wise, and abundantly funny\u003c\/b\u003e'' Adam Haslett\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cfont size=\"+1\"\u003eWHO SAYS YOU CAN''T RUN AWAY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS?\u003c\/font\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArthur Less is a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the post: it is from an ex-boyfriend of nine years who is engaged to someone else. Arthur can''t say yes - it would be too awkward; he can''t say no - it would look like defeat. So, he begins to accept the invitations on his desk to half-baked literary events around the world. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom France to India, Germany to Japan, Arthur almost falls in love, almost falls to his death, and puts miles between him and the plight he refuses to face. \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel about mishaps, misunderstandings and the depths of the human heart.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI adore this book\u003c\/b\u003e -- Armistead Maupin\u003cbr\u003eGreer is \u003cb\u003eone of the most talented writers around\u003c\/b\u003e -- Michael Chabon\u003cbr\u003eA really smart, funny book that pulls you up instead of down . . . \u003cb\u003eIt's hysterical, and the writing is fantastic\u003c\/b\u003e -- Ann Patchett\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe most deftly funny romantic comedy I've read in years\u003c\/b\u003e. If you have a sentimental bone in your body (I have 206),the ending will make you sob little tears of joy -- Nell Zink\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMarvelously, unexpectedly, endearingly funny\u003c\/b\u003e. A love story focused on the erroneous belief that the second half of life will pale in comparison to the first. Guess what? It won't! -- Gary Shteyngart\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLess \u003c\/i\u003eis the funniest, smartest, and most humane novel I've read since \u003ci\u003eThe Imperfectionists . . . \u003c\/i\u003eGreer writes sentences of arresting lyricism and beauty. His metaphors come at you like fireflies . . . Like Arthur, Andrew Sean Greer's \u003ci\u003eLess \u003c\/i\u003eis excellent company. \u003cb\u003eIt's no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful\u003c\/b\u003e -- Christopher Buckley * New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA generous book, musical in its prose and expansive in its structure and range\u003c\/b\u003e, about growing older and the essential nature of love -- Judges of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2018\u003cbr\u003eI am re-reading \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e by Andrew Sean Greer. It is\u003cb\u003e a hilarious, heart-warming story\u003c\/b\u003e about an imperfect, optimistic and utterly loveable protagonist Arthur Less, stumbling towards a milestone of middle-age on a geographical and personal odyssey while reflecting on his life so far. It is my idea of \u003cb\u003eperfect comfort reading \u003c\/b\u003e- \u003cb\u003eheroically hopeful, laugh-out-loud funny and overflowing with love\u003c\/b\u003e -- Dolly Alderton * Waterstones.com *\u003cbr\u003eA fast and rocketing read with everything I want from a story - moments of high humor, moments of genuine wisdom, sharp insights, and gorgeous images. \u003cb\u003eA wonderful, wonderful book!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGreer is an exceptionally lovely writer, capable of mingling humor with sharp poignancy \u003c\/b\u003e. . . Brilliantly funny . . . Greer's narration, so elegantly laced with wit, cradles the story of a man who loses everything: his lover, his suitcase, his beard, his dignity * Washington Post *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLess \u003c\/i\u003eis philosophical, poignant, funny and wise, filled with unexpected turns\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Although Greer is gifted and subtle in comic moments, he's just as adept at ruminating on the deeper stuff. His protagonist grapples with aging,loneliness, creativity, grief, self-pity and more * San Francisco Chronicle *\u003cbr\u003eGreer elevates \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e' picaresque journey into a wise and witty novel. \u003cb\u003eThis is no \u003ci\u003eEat, Pray Love\u003c\/i\u003e story of touristic uplift, but rather a grand travelogue of foibles, humiliations and self-deprecation, ending in joy, and a dollop of self-knowledge\u003c\/b\u003e * National Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eGreer, the author of wonderful, heartfelt novels including \u003ci\u003eThe Confessions of Max Tivoli\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Impossible Lives of Greta Wells\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e The Story of a Marriage\u003c\/i\u003e, shows he has another powerful weapon in his arsenal: comedy. And \u003cb\u003ewho doesn't need a laugh right about now?\u003c\/b\u003e * Miami Herald *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGreer writes beautifully\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Entirely successful in the authorial sleights of hand that make the narrator fade into the background - only to have an identity revealed at the end in a wonderful surprise * Publishers Weekly *\u003cbr\u003eGreer's evocations of the places Arthur visits offer zesty travelogue pleasures * Seattle Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn engaging, funny literary romp\u003c\/b\u003e * Minneapolis Star Tribune *\u003cbr\u003eDressed in his trademark blue suit, Less adorably butchers the German language, nearly falls in love in Paris, celebrates his birthday in the desert, and, somewhere along the way, discovers something new and fragile about the passing of time, about the coming and going of love, and what it means to be the fool of your own narrative. \u003cb\u003eIt's nothing less than wonderful\u003c\/b\u003e * BookPage *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGreer is a masterful writer \u003c\/b\u003ewho sees the best in humankind, and this novel is no exception * Esquire *\u003cbr\u003eThe charms of this light-footed, melancholy novel are soft and subtle . . . \u003ci\u003eLess \u003c\/i\u003eis a nuanced, delicately sketched example of someone whose life has been dogged by feelings of inadequacy simply because he has long allowed such feelings to dominate his life . . . rest assured, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLess \u003c\/i\u003eis most awfully good\u003c\/b\u003e * Big Issue *\u003cbr\u003eFaced with an invitation to his ex-lover's wedding and his looming 50th birthday, failed writer Arthur takes the only route he knows and legs it by accepting all the invitations he's been offered to literary festivals around the world. Jumping from country to country with each chapter, Arthur seems beset by irrelevance but slowly shines forth in one comic situation after another (in Italy, he finds himself up for a literary prize judged by 12 high school students) until the book unexpectedly blooms into an ode to humanity. \u003cb\u003eRead and weep\u003c\/b\u003e * Emerald Street *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLess \u003c\/i\u003eis witty, wise, and wistful in equal measure, sometimes all in the space of one page . . . a charming novel, and the vehicle for the most amiable of heroes * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eLess is very definitely more. This \u003cb\u003eingenious\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003ehilarious\u003c\/b\u003e Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a middle aged, almost successful gay author running away from his problems is \u003cb\u003eone of the most brilliant and endearing books we've read in ages\u003c\/b\u003e. A book about aging, relationships, disappointment and the inevitable absurdity of life,\u003ci\u003e Less \u003c\/i\u003eis like a friend you didn't know you had, who wraps your heartache in laughter and makes you see that it's all going to work out fine in the end. \u003cb\u003eWe adored this wonderful book\u003c\/b\u003e * Attitude Magazine *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis brilliant, Pulitzer-winning skewering of the literary world tracks a lovelorn writer on a voyage of self-discovery\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e is about anyone who has allowed their calling to define them at the expense of their humanity. Writers may blush in the mirror it holds up to them, but many readers will find it as endearing as the very best of Armistead Maupin * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e is beautifully written, witty, sharp and compellin\u003c\/b\u003eg, and the reminiscing is dreamy and rueful, peppered with optimism of the moment and blissful ignorance . . . \u003cb\u003ea gorgeous, unforgettable work that, whatever your gender or orientation, cannot fail to tell you something about yourself\u003c\/b\u003e * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eCharming, languid and incredibly funny,\u003cb\u003e I absolutely adored Arthur\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA highly entertaining, bittersweet, quirky, comedy about the unfathomable mysteries of the human heart. \u003cb\u003eIdeal for holiday reading\u003c\/b\u003e * The Lady *\u003cbr\u003eI loved \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e, Andrew Sean Greer's novel in which his hero Arthur Less - gay author, recently dumped, turning 50 - goes on a voyage of rediscovery via Japan and Italy. \u003cb\u003eThink\u003ci\u003e Eat \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ePray Love \u003c\/i\u003ewith A-levels\u003c\/b\u003e, the novel managed to win this year's Pulitzer Prize, despite being funny * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCheck out this gentle, witty Pulitzer-winning story about failed novelist Arthur Less . . . Greer's\u003cbr\u003esparkling prose covers his mishaps, misunderstandings and the fragility of the human heart\u003c\/p\u003e * Eastern Daily Press *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eComic novels rarely if ever get awarded the Pulitzer Prize, so it's a testament to Greer's deft command over the\u003cbr\u003eform that this picaresque but poignant romp broke through that particular ceiling\u003c\/p\u003e * Herald Scotland *\u003cbr\u003eLike a rare diamond, Greer's prose sparkles . . .\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eI can't think of a better book to stash in your suitcase\u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReader, I\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e laughed and I cried\u003c\/b\u003e: this is a hilarious, heart-warming and thoroughly midlife-enhancing book. On one level. \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e is a glorious anthology of all the exquisite humiliations that can be heaped upon a writer . . . it is also a lyrical, moving essay on the rewards of creativity and perseverance in the second half of life. Oh. and it is \u003cb\u003ewise, generous of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003espirit and beautifully written\u003c\/b\u003e. More! * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eThe last book that made me cry [was] \u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e by Andrew Sean Greer. \u003cb\u003eThe ending gave me chills and then I realised I was crying too\u003c\/b\u003e -- Derek Owusu * Guardiam *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLess\u003c\/i\u003e is witty, wise, and wistful in equal measure, sometimes all in the space of one page . . . a charming novel, and the vehicle for the most amiable of heroes * Independent *","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49083484799319,"sku":"9780349143590","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780349143590.jpg?v=1725549093","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/less-9780349143590","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}