Why I am reading Less this year

10.13.18

It’s been an odd year for reading- I can’t seem to sink into a book the way I usually do, and I suspect this has to do with our 24/7 “breaking news” culture – the midterms, the stock market, the presidential tweets, and a warming planet. It would seem the best time to sink into the couch with a great novel, but the country’s anxiety level is too high and it is somehow too guilty of a pleasure right now.

The one book I have undeniably loved this year is “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer. A Pulitzer-prize winner that you can take to the beach – I fell in love from the first page, and have recommended this novel for months for it’s humor, intelligence, and pure originality.

So, I’m reading less this year in general.  But when it comes to worthy books this year, Andrew Sean Greer’s novel is at the top of my list.

Less is the funniest, smartest and most humane novel I’ve read since Tom Rachman’s 2010 debut, The Imperfectionists….Greer writes sentences of arresting lyricism and beauty. His metaphors come at you like fireflies….Like Arthur, Andrew Sean Greer’s Less is excellent company. It’s no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful.”
New York Times Book Review