Sometimes Less is Just Less

Just got around to looking at Michael LaPointe's trenchant review of Andrew Sean Greer's Less in the June 26 issue of TLS  this year (sorry, behind a paywall). Disparagers of the novel's Pulitzer status will find beaucoup de aid and comfort here. And I have to admit I'm moving toward their camp. I was very interested in "Less's relationships … how they came together and unravelled" but have to admit finally that that's not fully realized in the book (e.g. how abruptly the older lover seems to drop Less after his continued, disappearing affairettes). LaPointe's final paragraph:

Perhaps it’s unfair to hold a novel to the standards of its accolades. But the fact that Less is now being published in the UK with its Pulitzer Prize branded on the cover must invite some resistance. If you’re searching for easily apprehended, low-stakes escapism then this novel might be an appropriate choice, but of a Pulitzer Prize-winner like Less, one desires more.

A link to LaPointe's homepage is in order, in particular to his recent blog post in The New Yorker revisitng James McCourt's 1993 novel Time Remaining (which is unfortunately o.o.p. and expensive.)