Less

I think what I enjoyed most about this book (warranting a 4-star rating, rather than 3) was the writing. Andrew Greer is very talented, especially in his ability to capture the unique and authentic voice of the protagonist. I enjoyed the wit and humor that peppered nearly every page without sounding overly forced.
Also, Arthur Less is just the most relatable guy ever. Peak imposter syndrome struggles; aversion to any change; hopeless romantic. Loved the relatability and rawness of the main character.

Ultimately, the plot took a little longer than it needed to (could have ended about 100 pages earlier) and I disliked the cliche ending. Cut the plot of the last 10 pages and it would have left a much stronger impact. Break the garden wall, The End. I understand that Greer likely ended the book the way he did so as to drive what he envisioned for book #2, but that was just a poor choice of direction in my opinion.


Favorite passage:
Chapter 7 “Less Indian”

“It was nothing like he expected, the sun flirting with him among the trees and houses; the driver speeding along a crumbling road alongside which trash was piled as if washed there (and what first looked like a beach beside a river turned out to be an accretion of a million plastic bags, as a coral reef is an accretion of a million tiny animals); the endless series of shops, as if made from one continuous concrete barrier, painted at intervals with different signs advertising chickens and medicine, coffins and telephones, pet fish and cigarettes, hot tea and “homely” food, Communism, mattresses, handicrafts, Chinese food, haircuts and dumbbells and gold by the ounce; the low, flat temples appearing at regular intervals like the colorful, elaborately frosted, but basically inedible sheet cakes displayed at Less's childhood bakery; the women sitting roadside with baskets of shimmering silver fish, terrifying manta rays, and squid, with their cartoon eyes; the countless men standing at tea shops, variety stores, pharmacies, watching Less as he goes by; the driver dodging bicycles, motorcycles, lorries (but few cars), moving frenetically in and out of traffic, bringing Less back to the time at Disney World when his mother led him and his sister to a whimsical ride based on The Wind in the Willows—a ride that turned out to be a knuckle-whitening rattletrap wellspring of trauma. Nothing, nothing here, is what he expected.”