Less by Andrew Sean Greer

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📚 Book Review: Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Spoiler Alert! This review includes major plot points and the ending.

✈️ A Pulitzer-Winning Midlife Crisis?

Less is a satirical novel that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which kind of set my expectations sky-high. I went into it thinking I’d be blown away. And... I wasn’t. I wasn’t underwhelmed either—it’s just one of those books that constantly had me waffling. I’d laugh on one page, then yawn on the next. I found parts of it clever and touching, but others slow and even empty-feeling. In the end, I landed on 3.5 out of 5 stars.

It’s not that I disliked the book—it’s beautifully written, sharply observant, and often funny. But despite all that, I found myself dragging my feet to finish. And for a relatively short novel, that says something. 🐌

🧠 Quick Overview

Arthur Less, a nearly-50-year-old midlist writer, is trying to dodge attending his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. His brilliant plan? Accept every half-baked literary invitation he’s received from around the world, hop on a globe-trotting adventure, and pretend like he’s totally fine. Cue the chaos, introspection, awkward encounters, and gourmet food.

The narrator has a delightfully cheeky voice—turns out that’s a big reveal at the end—but more on that later...

🌍 Full (Spoiler-Filled!) Plot Summary

Arthur Less is a “minor American novelist” who learns that his ex of nine years, Freddy, is getting married. Instead of going to the wedding—or worse, declining and seeming bitter—Less cobbles together a world tour of literary events and residencies. Basically, a grief-fueled gap year.

Here’s where he goes:

🗽 New York

He’s supposed to interview a sci-fi author (who promptly throws up everywhere). This leg reminds him of his past loves: Robert Brownburn, a Pulitzer-winning poet, and Freddy.

🇲🇽 Mexico

He’s set to speak at a literary festival about Robert, but most of the event is in Spanish, which Less doesn’t speak. He ends up wandering the city with a charming local named Arturo.

🇮🇹 Italy

Here, his novel is up for a minor literary prize. He fully expects to lose… and then shockingly wins. He still doubts himself, though.

🇩🇪 Germany

Less teaches a writing class and falls into a fling with a younger man, Bastian. It’s sweet but temporary.

🇫🇷 France (briefly)

After a layover and a messed-up tax refund, he ends up at a dinner party where a married man named Javier kisses him. Less wonders if he should stay... but doesn’t.

🇲🇦 Morocco

He joins a desert birthday trip for a woman named Zohra, whose party devolves into sickness and sandstorms. Most of the guests bail, but Less bonds with Zohra (who turns out to be a closeted lesbian) and their guide, Mohammed. They escape to a bizarre Swiss-style resort in the desert, where Less turns 50.

🇮🇳 India

At a chaotic Christian retreat, Less steps on a sewing needle (ouch), ends up in the hospital, and is rescued by Carlos—Freddy’s adoptive father. They escape to a luxurious, boring hotel, where Carlos tells Less that he has the best life of anyone he knows. Less doesn’t believe him.

🇯🇵 Japan

Now limping, luggage-less, and a little lost, Less eats his way through fancy multi-course kaiseki meals for a travel article. But then, he gets devastating news: Robert, his ex, has had a stroke. They video call one last time. It’s tender, sad, and quietly profound. Robert tells Less he always loved him, but also urges him to move on. The chapter ends with Less sobbing in a restaurant and—symbolically—breaking through a fragile paper wall.

💘 The Ending: Who’s the Narrator?

After all that emotional and physical travel, Less returns to San Francisco. And here’s the twist: the narrator we’ve been following all along is Freddy, the ex-boyfriend whose wedding he was trying to avoid.

Freddy’s marriage lasted a single day. (Yup.) He realized he was still in love with Less and rushed home to be there when Less returned. The final scene shows Freddy watching Arthur walk up to the house, porch light on. The story ends with one simple wish: “I want Less.”

Cue the awwwws.

✍️ Final Thoughts

Greer’s writing is undeniably beautiful, and there are moments that made me laugh out loud or want to reread a sentence twice. But overall, Less was a bit... meandering. I kept wondering: Do I care enough about this character? Is anything really happening? For every scene I adored, there was another that felt like filler.

It’s clever and poignant, yes. But also a bit of a slow burn that never quite lit the full fire for me.

⚠️ Trigger Warnings

  • Death of a parent (off-page)

  • Serious illness (stroke)

  • Infidelity

  • Mild sexual situations

  • Emotional trauma

  • Ageism

  • Needles in feet (seriously)

📚 You Might Also Like…

If you liked Less, or want something with similar themes (but perhaps a bit more... focused?), check out:

  • The Guncle by Steven Rowley (gay midlife crisis, lots of humor)

  • Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong (emotional and offbeat)

  • The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (quirky international misadventures)

  • This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel (more serious, but emotionally rich)

📦 Grab Your Copy

📖 Buy Less by Andrew Sean Greer on Amazon
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