By — Elizabeth Flock Elizabeth Flock Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-next-pick-for-the-pbs-newshour-new-york-times-book-club-is-4 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The June pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club is ‘Less’ Arts May 31, 2018 6:54 PM EDT We’re excited to announce that “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer is our June pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club, “Now Read This.” “Less,” by Andrew Sean Greer. Credit: Lee Boudreaux Books It’s a laugh-out-loud comedic novel about a failed writer named Arthur Less — referred to throughout the book only as “Less” — who sets out on a round-the-world trip to avoid attending his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. “Less” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year. After receiving the news of the Pulitzer, Greer, who is the author of six novels, expressed surprise and gratitude on Twitter, where he wrote of the book: “All I can say is that it is about the foolishness of American myopia, the uneasiness of being gay in the world, the difficulties of love, but most of all it is about joy. A writer friend once said the hardest thing to write about is joy. I took it as a challenge.” In the New York Times Book Review, Christopher Buckley wrote of “Less”: “Convulsed in laughter a few pages into Andrew Sean Greer’s fifth novel, ‘Less,’ I wondered with regret why I wasn’t familiar with this author. ‘Less’ is the funniest, smartest and most humane novel I’ve read since Tom Rachman’s 2010 debut, ‘The Imperfectionists.’” In the coming days, we’ll post discussion questions for the book, an annotated page, and writing advice from Greer. And at the end of the month, Greer will answer your questions on air. Just joining? Become a member of the book club by joining our Facebook group, or by signing up for our newsletter. You can find all of our book club content here, or look back at our conversations about previous selections for the book club below: Dan Egan’s environmental portrait “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes“ Mohsin Hamid’s magical novel “Exit West” David Grann’s true crime tale “Killers of the Flower Moon” Jesmyn Ward’s lyrical “Sing, Unburied, Sing” Tara Westover’s memoir “Educated” Thanks for reading along! Your book purchase supports PBS NewsHour journalism. By — Elizabeth Flock Elizabeth Flock Elizabeth Flock is an independent journalist who reports on justice and gender. She can be reached at elizabethflock@gmail.com @lizflock
We’re excited to announce that “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer is our June pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club, “Now Read This.” “Less,” by Andrew Sean Greer. Credit: Lee Boudreaux Books It’s a laugh-out-loud comedic novel about a failed writer named Arthur Less — referred to throughout the book only as “Less” — who sets out on a round-the-world trip to avoid attending his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. “Less” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year. After receiving the news of the Pulitzer, Greer, who is the author of six novels, expressed surprise and gratitude on Twitter, where he wrote of the book: “All I can say is that it is about the foolishness of American myopia, the uneasiness of being gay in the world, the difficulties of love, but most of all it is about joy. A writer friend once said the hardest thing to write about is joy. I took it as a challenge.” In the New York Times Book Review, Christopher Buckley wrote of “Less”: “Convulsed in laughter a few pages into Andrew Sean Greer’s fifth novel, ‘Less,’ I wondered with regret why I wasn’t familiar with this author. ‘Less’ is the funniest, smartest and most humane novel I’ve read since Tom Rachman’s 2010 debut, ‘The Imperfectionists.’” In the coming days, we’ll post discussion questions for the book, an annotated page, and writing advice from Greer. And at the end of the month, Greer will answer your questions on air. Just joining? Become a member of the book club by joining our Facebook group, or by signing up for our newsletter. You can find all of our book club content here, or look back at our conversations about previous selections for the book club below: Dan Egan’s environmental portrait “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes“ Mohsin Hamid’s magical novel “Exit West” David Grann’s true crime tale “Killers of the Flower Moon” Jesmyn Ward’s lyrical “Sing, Unburied, Sing” Tara Westover’s memoir “Educated” Thanks for reading along! Your book purchase supports PBS NewsHour journalism.