I finished the new Pulitzer prize winner for fiction, Less: A Novel
The protagonist Arthur ‘Less’ is a gay man traveling the world to avoid his ex-lovers wedding. Less is a somewhat acclaimed writer; some of the international invitations he has accepted are prize ceremonies and other author focused events. He is anxious about turning 50 and being “the first homosexual ever to grow old” but he is (at the very beginning of the novel) also excited about his new book:
“But this new book! This is the one! It is called Swift (to whom the race does not go): a peripatetic novel. A man on a walking tour of San Francisco, and of his past, returning home after a series of blows and disappointments (“All you do is write gay Ulysses,” said Freddy); a wistful, poignant novel of a man’s hard life. Of broke, gay middle age.”
As a former Ulysses scholar I loved this reference to a “gay Ulysses” walking around San Francisco.
“I believe it [the award] is something gay. His first response to Peter was to ask: ‘How did they even know I was gay?’ He asked this from his front porch wearing a kimono.”
If you are like me and like to read all the Pulitzers you will want to read this book. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. I can appreciate this book for what it is, but I wasn’t completely engrossed. I didn’t really see it as a Pulitzer winner until the end. I guess I am just hoping for another Goldfinch. But what I did fully appreciate is that THIS BOOK HAS A TON OF ULYSSES (James Joyce) REFERENCES.
In addition to the character having written the Gay Ulysses, Andrew Greer has written the gay Ulysses. I did not necessarily see this until the end of the book, and I am not seeing anyone else say this…
Probably because NO ONE BUT ME AND OBVIOUSLY ANDREW GREER HAVE READ ULYSSES. Ha!
After finishing this book I actually couldn’t sleep making all the parallels between these books and matching up characters and scenes. And possibly coming up with some he didn’t even intend??
Wow if I only still needed a paper topic…
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I just finished this as well and enjoyed it. I haven’t read Ulysses, so I didn’t catch those references. I did think that Less’s book Swift sounded basically the same as Greer’s Less, except in San Francisco. The parts where Less spoke German had me laughing out loud. There was a lot I liked, but like you, I can’t say I was fully engrossed. Worth the read for the likable character and humor, though.
Allison thanks for sharing your experience & reflections with the book. I have not yet talked with anyone else who read it!!