When his novel Less won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Andrew Sean Greer tweeted, he ‘had just persuaded a dog to let me put her into polka dot pajamas (not my dog)’. He literally didn’t believe the news.

Readers clearly feel otherwise. Less tells the story of Arthur Less – a writer fearing his own mediocrity and middle age, who takes on a series of far-flung literary engagements in order to avoid the wedding of a significant ex. With understated eloquence, the book’s narrator is generous to its subject, making for a joyful and nuanced celebration of human complexity. It spent six months on the coveted New York Times bestseller list.

Benjamin Law and Andrew Sean Greer — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Beyond the runaway success of his latest novel, Greer is a novelist, short story writer and writing teacher whose books frequently explore themes of love and time. His other books, including The Confessions of Max Tivoli and The Story of a Marriage, have earned him critical praise for their sensitive, lyrical prose.

Last May, Greer joined Benjamin Law to talk about the ways in which writing can express our hunger for language, for the world, and for each other.

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