Less by Andrew Sean Greer

“Less” is a novel by Andrew Sean Greer that was published in 2017. The book tells the story of Arthur Less, a struggling writer who is about to turn fifty and is facing a midlife crisis. Arthur has been invited to attend the wedding of his former lover, Freddy, in Paris, but he doesn’t want to go because he doesn’t want to face the fact that Freddy is marrying someone else.

In an effort to avoid the wedding, Arthur accepts a series of invitations to literary events around the world, hoping that he can string them together into a long trip that will keep him away from Freddy’s wedding. The trip takes Arthur to Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, and Japan, and along the way, he meets a variety of interesting and quirky characters.

As Arthur travels, he reflects on his life and his relationships, both past and present. He also confronts his own mortality and begins to come to terms with the fact that he may never achieve the literary success he has always hoped for.

“Less” is a humorous and poignant novel that explores themes of love, loss, aging, and the creative process. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2018 and has been praised for its witty prose and insightful observations about the human condition.