Arthur Less: A Man in Crisis?

Throughout the novel, readers have to struggle with the idea of “Who is Arthur Less?” Is Arthur Less the man we should be rooting for, or is he just a man in crisis? 

A quote that is so meta to the narrative is when Zohra asks Less what his next book is about. After explaining that it was about a white, middle-aged gay San Franciscan man with sorrows, Zohra says “it’s a little hard to feel sorry for a guy like that” leading Less to tell her to “bugger off” (170). Less didn’t know he was going to say this, much to the pleasure of Zohra. At its core, Less is about a gay American white man with sorrows. Even though he’s a character riddled with anxieties, there’s depth to him. Unlike his description of his failed novel, readers feel sorry for Less. He’s not just some average Joe character in the midst of a mid-life crisis. 

Throughout his travels and reflections, we see breakthrough moments of self-reflection which give him the depth we need to feel for him. To root for him. After talking with Lewis about how a “failed relationship” isn’t a failure (it’s a celebration), Less ponders being alone. Even though he goes on to reject the notion, it’s something he considers. He rejects it because being alone is “impossible to imagine. That life seems as terrifying, as un-Lessian, as that of a castaway on a desert island” (184). These moments of clarity (even though they might be rejected) give us insight to him as a person with depth, not just a man who performed the juvenile action of running away from his problems. In the end, it even comes full circle with him choosing to go home, to finally saying that he can’t anymore (255). The action of going home alone, not choosing the next adventure, is him choosing himself, something that he struggles with throughout the novel and is finally realized. Him going home is choosing himself. It’s not a failure or defeat. It’s a celebration.

Within the ending, where we realize the narrator of the story, we see why the narrator was so passionate about telling the story. Freddy loves Less. He even goes and waits on his front porch for him after his travels in a romantic “I choose you” moment. In his reasoning why he writes about Less, he says “what I have been trying to tell you this whole time, is that from where I sit, the story of Arthur Less is not so bad” (260). This is the ending that so few characters receive. The reason why readers don’t initially root for Less is that this is a romantic tale toled from a lover. In his eyes, Less is the man we root for. Even though his experiences may be silly or stupid, in Freddy’s eyes they’re all worth it.