First published 2022
Arthur Less thought his life had finally stabilized. The moderately successful novelist enjoys a steady relationship with his partner Freddy Pelu. Then an old lover dies and financial troubles strike. Less does what he does best: he runs away. He accepts a string of literary jobs that take him zigzagging across America in a battered camper van he calls Rosina, accompanied by his black pug Dolly. Less trades his gray suit for cowboy hats and boleros as he travels through the West, the South, and back to his mid-Atlantic birthplace. He grows a handlebar mustache and tries to blend in as a true American, though people keep mistaking him for a Dutchman or the wrong writer entirely. The road trip brings him face to face with his estranged father, his troubled relationship with Freddy, and his own privilege. Despite crossing deserts, bayous, and coastlines, Less discovers he cannot outrun himself.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: America, Mid-Atlantic, South, West
Period: 21st-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company