Less

Less

Adult Fiction
"From where I sit, the story of Less is not so bad..."
Arthur Less, novelist central character of Andrew Sean Greer's
Less, would probably disagree with this statement. His narrative
begins with a bad news trifecta. He's about to learn that his
publishing house is rejecting his latest offering as the whining of
the over privileged. He's about to turn fifty, embued with the horror
and dread too many people associate with the approaches of ages ending
in zeros after the arrival of legal drinking status. His lover of
about a decade is about to marry someone else. In fact he's been
invited to the wedding.
At first Less was paralyzed with indicision. If he went, there
would be pitying looks, especially from his long term frenemy, Carlos
("Arthur, you know my son was never right for you") Pelu.
"Yet Less could not simply decline the invitation. To sit at
home while all the old gang gathered up in Sonoma to drink Carlos'
money--well they would cackle about him all the same..."
Less copes by taking an option only available to the most
privileged among us: a trip around the world planned around a series
of random invitations. Sorry. To busy to attend your little event.
Best wishes.
What I liked about the novel was the unpredictability of his
adventures and misadventures. He chills on a desert island with his
frenemy and would be father-in-law who has an unusual request to
make. A dog tears up the blue suit he considers his signature piece.
Stepping on a sewing needle leads to a middle of the night broken
ankle. And, of course, the airlines lose his luggage. I like the
book on the level of clueless American abroad comedy.
At any deeper level, though, I found it more maudlin than
poignant. He's mourning the two lost loves of his life. He's
terrified of the aging process and society's expectations of his older
self which he totally buys into. When a tailor insists on making him
a grey suit, claiming that he's too old to wear blue, he accepts a
detested grey suit instead of saying "Blue or I take my money
somewhere else."
My favorite character in the book was the invisible til the end
narrator. From the beginning I could tell this was the voice of
someone important in Less' life. I kept looking to clues to his
identity.
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday I had a day that would have been
amazing even in a nonpandemic year. It started in the morning when I
got an inspiration for my next opinion piece. I was in the zone. It
felt like catching lightning in a jar. While I was writing Emily came
by with library books and Easter candy. I found out that I got 97 on
my most recent statistics assignment. The hoodie Eugene told me to
order arrived early and was even more beautiful than the picture. All
the jeans I haven't worn since I went into pandemic house arrest still
fit perfectly. I had a nice phone chat with my daughter and a
marshmellow Peeps and hard cherry lemonade/black raspberry ice cream
ice cream soda and good book happy hour. I mean what more could one
ask for? (Jules)
When my hoomans iz happy I iz happy. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes to the wonderful students who organized a
toiletries drive for Black Bear Exchange. Shampoo, conditioner, and
other body care items are a big help!!!
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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