This week we’re taking a closer look at Powell’s Pick of the Month Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer.
Sequels are hard. I know that every time I finish one of these Spotlights, everyone wonders: “how can he top this?” And yet, somehow, I do. But it’s always a struggle to face the sky-high expectations.
This is just one more way in which I can look to Andrew Sean Greer’s Arthur Less for guidance. When I first read
Less, it was as an advanced reader copy for what promised to be a light comedy with a clever premise. It was that, and more. I found the ending to be so emotionally satisfying; it was a book that I hadn’t known how badly I needed it until I finished it. And central to the book’s charm is its main character, who is kind, and intelligent, and often oblivious. It’s a difficult balance to make a comedic hero both buffoonish and lovable, but Greer got it just right as he sent Less on a world tour of romantic avoidance.
It’s a difficult balance to make a comedic hero both buffoonish and lovable, but Greer got it just right as he sent Less on a world tour of romantic avoidance.
|
Then, almost a full year later, the book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and my little sleeper novel became famous (note: my only ownership stake in the book is that I read it and liked it. If you don’t allow me to consider that a possession of some sort, then my ledger will be catastrophically red). I was surprised by the win; not that I doubted
Less’s worthiness, but it didn’t present as award-hungry, which made it a perfect choice.
Then came news of a sequel,
Less is Lost, this time sending our hero on a trip around the United States. I was anxious. Would my intense fondness for the way Less concluded negatively impact my enjoyment of the next volume? Would Greer be able get that lightning back in a bottle? I wondered: “how can he top this?” And yet, somehow, he did.