Less is Lost – Andrew Sean Greer

Mae bywyd Arthur Less yn mynd yn rhyfeddol o dda: mae’n nofelydd gweddol fedrus mewn perthynas gyson â’i bartner, Freddy Pelu. Ond does dim byd yn para: mae marwolaeth hen gariad ac argyfwng ariannol sydyn yn cael Less yn rhedeg i ffwrdd o’i broblemau eto ar draws yr Unol Daleithiau.

Fodd bynnag, ni allwn ddianc rhag ein hunain – hyd yn oed ar draws anialwch, baeog, ac arfordiroedd. O’i dad sydd wedi ymddieithrio a’i berthynas dan straen ag Freddy, i’r cyfrif y mae’n ei brofi wrth wynebu ei fraint, mae’n rhaid i Arthur Less wynebu ei gythreuliaid personol yn y pen draw. Gyda’r holl ffraethineb a wnaeth Less yn llyfr poblogaidd, sydd wedi ennill Gwobr Pulitzer, mae Less Is Lost yn nofel ddwys a llawen am enigma bywyd yn America, cariad, a’r straeon rydym yn dweud ar hyd y ffordd.

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.