- A sequence of literary events on a travel itinerary that takes in Mexico, Italy, Germany, France, Morocco, India and Japan. Leavened by a delightful wit as Arthur Less, a 49 year old gay man terrified of soon turning 50, experiences new lovers and fondly remembers old ones (Howard, Carlos, Robert, Freddy).
- What makes this 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning novel so pleasurable to read is the sublime prose. Some passages are so stunningly beautiful as Less reflects on his life and his loneliness they demand immediate re-reading then reading again. And then there’s the startlingly original metaphors on virtually every page...
- Less is a not a commercially successful writer, and his latest book has been rejected by his long-time publisher. ‘He is grieving, for sure - the loss of his lover, his career, his novel, his youth...’ But, ironically, in his travels he comes across many fans who love his books. And they love the fact he’s an American and a gentleman who’s always wearing his blue linen suit.
- His new novel, Swift, seems like the one we’re reading. It’s about him: ‘A white middle-aged American man walking around with his white middle-aged American sorrows’.
- As one friend tells him: ‘It is our duty to show something beautiful from our world. The gay world. But in your books, you make the characters suffer without reward’.
- Less lived for over a decade with a world renowned poet who most critics regarded as a genius (modelled on Robert Lowell?). His description of living with genius is inspiring.
- A subtle, delightful and gentle book that surprises with its insights and profundity.
- Highly recommended.
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