This book from the FVRL collection was chosen to compliment the 2019/2020 season at the ACT arts centre. This book was featured on a list that complimented a breadth of materials to enhance your theatrical experiences.

A breathtaking rumination on love and life and being Less. By the end of the book, I was crying tears of joy, having loved every minute of the journey I had taken to get there. An instant favorite!

Funny and witty, Less by Andrew Sean Greer has been one of my favorite books ever since I read it! The book is a refreshing twist on relationships and self-discovery in the 21st century. I was able to resonate a lot with Arthur Less’s character as I feel that his personality was similar to mine. He is a very awkward, albeit kind and tenderhearted, person who is unlucky with love. This is a wonderful book about moving on from heartbreak and learning from past mistakes. I loved Arthur’s character development as the book progresses, and I also enjoyed reading about the different continents he traveled to. I felt like I was on this wild roller coaster with Arthur as he learns that traveling across the world won’t necessarily allow him to escape his problems, because the past will always come back to you. Overall, I definitely recommend this book to readers of all ages. Some things I didn’t like about the book was the slow pace of the book. It felt like there was a lot of filler and unnecessary events from the book that could have been excerpted or taken out. I found the book to be much longer than I would have liked, and it was somewhat boring at times. Other than that, I give this book 3.5 stars!

Unlikely hero Arthur Less is approaching a milestone birthday – his 50th – while grappling with the news of a former lover’s impending wedding. As both events near, single Less considers how not only is he a loser in love, but also a mediocre writer, popular in social circles only by his association to a world-famous poet. So instead of attending the wedding, Less decides to fill up his calendar with literary events around the world. Comedy after comedy ensues as Less reflects on former heartaches, failed opportunities, and eventually the potential of new beginnings. This novel will get you thinking about aging and the many layers of our identity. What does it mean to grow old in a culture that only values the beauty of youth? How do we define success in our lifetime? Join Arthur on his journey and find out!

At times heartbreaking and at other times hilarious. I was rooting for Arthur even when he didn't seem to be rooting for himself. Lovely commentary on the universality of love.

Not my normal choice of book, but something caught my attention and held on. Arthur Less is a bit of the bumbling hero - I regularly flipped from being annoyed with him, to feeling sorry for him, to hoping for him, to resonating with him. Sounds like a well crafted character, right? Some parts made me laugh out loud with their self deprecating wit and simple humorous astuteness of life.

This book is quite different from what I usually read, but I thought it was really fun and funny while still having some depth. From looking at other reviews here, it's obviously not for everyone, but I thought it was great.

As previous reviews testify, this is not a book that will appeal to everyone. I, however, found it to be clever, poignant and funny. The narrative style, with its sudden switches in time, place, person and voice, can be rather disconcerting, but it still tells a powerful story of Arthur Less, a kind of gay “Everyman”, and all the little triumphs, failures, uncertainties, humiliations and absurdities of his life. A life which, at some essential level, mirrors that of our own.

After reading about 1/3 of the book I just couldn’t get into it so I quit reading...something I rarely do. The writing went on and on about inane things...ugh.

I am going to side with the half of the audience that"just couldn't get into the book." The writing is a bit awkward and often doesn't flow. The author makes it a point to inject the text with lengthy words that feel out of context. The main character, Arthur Less, is indecisive, insecure, and boring. The story mirrors his character. Did I miss something spectacular that is hidden here? Some underwater current, a thread that connects it all? It didn't even spell a good love story to me. Not a big fan, although stuck with it till the end.