Holland Cook est un jeune homme d'une grande beauté, à la personnalité mystérieuse et raffinée. Pearlie tombe amoureuse de lui au premier regard. Séparés par la guerre, ils se retrouvent en 1949 à San Francisco et se marient. Pearlie pense vivre un bonheur tranquille, entre son mari et leur fils. Quatre ans plus tard, la belle histoire vole en éclats lorsqu'elle reçoit la visite de Charles Drumer, un homme d'affaires qui a connu Holland autrefois et qui lui propose un étrange marché...

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018 ' You will sob little tears of joy ' Nell Zink ' I recommend it with my whole heart ' Ann Patchett ' I adore this book ' Armistead Maupin ' Charming, languid and incredibly funny, I absolutely adored Arthur' Jenny Colgan ' Marvellously, endearingly, unexpectedly funny ' Gary Shteyngart ' Bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful ' New York Times Book Review ' A fast and rocketing read . . . a wonderful, wonderful book! ' Karen Joy Fowler ' Hilarious, and wise, and abundantly funny ' Adam Haslett WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS? Arthur Less is a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the post: it is from an ex-boyfriend of nine years who is engaged to someone else. Arthur can't say yes - it would be too awkward; he can't say no - it would look like defeat. So, he begins to accept the invitations on his desk to half-baked literary events around the world. From France to India, Germany to Japan, Arthur almost falls in love, almost falls to his death, and puts miles between him and the plight he refuses to face. Less is a novel about mishaps, misunderstandings and the depths of the human heart.
Lire la suite Fermer

In the follow-up to the 'bedazzling, bewitching, and be-wonderful' (NYTBR) bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Less, the awkward and lovable Arthur Less returns in an unforgettable road trip across America.
Go get lost somewhere, it always does you good.
For Arthur Less, life is going surprisingly well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But nothing lasts: the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis has Less running away from his problems yet again as he accepts a series of literary gigs that send him on a zigzagging adventure across the US.
Less roves across the 'Mild Mild West', through the South and to his mid-Atlantic birthplace, with an ever-changing posse of writerly characters and his trusty duo - a human-like black pug, Dolly, and a rusty camper van nicknamed Rosina. He grows a handlebar mustache, ditches his signature gray suit, and disguises himself in the bolero-and-cowboy-hat costume of a true 'Unitedstatesian'... with varying levels of success, as he continues to be mistaken for either a Dutchman, the wrong writer, or, worst of all, a 'bad gay'.
We cannot, however, escape ourselves - even across deserts, bayous, and coastlines. From his estranged father and strained relationship with Freddy, to the reckoning he experiences in confronting his privilege, Arthur Less must eventually face his personal demons. With all of the irrepressible wit and musicality that made Less a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning, must-read breakout book, Less Is Lost is a profound and joyous novel about the enigma of life in America, the riddle of love, and the stories we tell along the way. Lire la suite Fermer