They are taken to a Swiss resort in the Atlas Mountains when a sandstorm makes their journey through the desert impossible. This is the first time Less has met her and, after a debauched first night, the other guests begin to fall ill. The birthday belongs to Zohra, who turns 50 a day before Less.

In Morocco Less joins a birthday party, which involves a journey through the desert on camels. Less leaves the party for the airport and boards his flight to Marrakesh, wondering whether he should have stayed with Javier. The two spend the night talking Javier is in a loveless marriage and, at the end of the night, he kisses Less. He phones a friend and is invited to a dinner party, where he meets a Spanish man named Javier. Before reaching Morocco, an overbooked flight gives Less a few hours at his stopover in Paris. Less leaves Bastian behind and journeys to Morocco. One night he takes a pill with Bastian and stays up all night dancing. Less spends five weeks teaching and being with Bastian, which distracts him from Freddy’s upcoming wedding. On his first night he meets a young man named Bastian, and the two begin a relationship. He believes he can speak German but struggles with the language, often making mistakes. Next, Less travels to Germany to teach a short writing course. He is snapped out of his reminisces by the news that he has, in fact, won first prize. As the ceremony drags on, Less worries about the quality of his work. He stays in a lavish hotel and meets the finalists, accidently revealing to the winner that he has won. Arthur flies to Italy, where his third novel (translated into Italian) is on the shortlist for a prize he knows he will not win. Less remembers meeting her and Robert in 1987 on a beach, shortly before he and Robert began an affair.

They tour marketplaces and ancient ruins. Most of the literary festival is conducted in Spanish, however, so Less spends his time being shown around the city by a local man named Arturo. When he arrives at the event, the sci-fi author is vomiting profusely.Īrthur travels to Mexico to participate in a panel discussing Robert’s work with Robert’s ex-wife Marian. Less also learns that his latest book has been passed over for publication. His time in the city prompts him to reflect on his relationship with Freddy and a relationship before that with Robert Brownburn, a renowned poet. He had searched New York for a suitable prop for his interview, eventually finding a cosmonaut’s helmet in a gay bar. The event is the first step on a round-the-world trip organized by Less to avoid attending the wedding of his former lover Freddy, whom he dated for 15 years. He is a writer and will be interviewing another writer, albeit a sci-fi author whose fame far exceeds his own. Approaching 50, Arthur Less sits in a hotel lobby waiting to be picked up for a literary event.

Less book pulitzer