Less by Andrew Sean Greer

On April 21, Karen hosted her first remote bookclub from Switzerland!  Liz joined us from Texas and the bay area bunch met up at the start-up hotspot, Hanahouse in Palo Alto. (Lisa was not there and was sorely missed. Our love goes out to her and her family.)

The book Karen chose was Less by Andrew Sean Greer - a good selection since it soon afterward won the Pulitzer Prize!  Less is about a 49-year-old man who takes a journey around the world to avoid attending the wedding of his former lover.

Reactions to the book were mixed.  Some loved the literary depth such as allusions to Gulliver's Travels and symbolism (such as the loss of the blue suit (old self) and birthing imagery of the small restaurant in Japan).  Others had a hard time getting into the book, relating to the main character, and/or reconciling the author's seeming dislike for women.

This was one of our more academic bookclubs as we used the writable walls to outline evidence of our literary arguments and draw diagrams. And being that we were in a conference room, the VC worked great!