The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Greer, Andrew. Less is Lost. Hachette Book Group, 2022.

Andrew Sean Greer’s first-person narrative, Less is Lost, follows the adventures of Arthur Less as he sets off on a road trip across the American South. The novel is told through the lens of Freddy Pelu, Less’s partner, who is staying in Maine throughout the narrative present. At the outset of the novel, Less learns that his ex-boyfriend, Robert Brownburn is dead. After the funeral, Marian tells him that the estate is demanding back rent on the Shack, Less’s home that Robert owned but he lives in with Freddy. Desperate to save the bungalow, Less postpones his trip to Maine and agrees to interview H. h. H, Mandern and chair a Prize Committee. When he meets the famed author H. H. H. Mandern, the older man announces that he has no intent to fly to Santa Fe for their next engagement and asks Less to drive him into the desert to find his estranged daughter. Desperate to complete the profile and receive the money to save his home, Less agrees. The two authors, and Mandern’s dog, Dolly, wend their way through the American Southwest, stopping at desolate towns and an artistic commune. Less fears that he is lost without Robert in his life and tells his sister that he is unsure if he can continue without Robert’s overbearing presence.

After the reading engagement in Santa Fe, Less accepts the offer to travel with a theatrical group that is performing his work, Nutrition Play. He sets off for Louisiana in the conversion van, clad in a baseball cap and t-shirt to hide his sexuality. Earlier, he received a note from his estranged father announcing that he is excited to see him in the South and to support his creative endeavors. When the protagonist was a child, his father walked out on the family. Since this traumatic event, he has equated love with abandonment. In his significant relationships, he expects the people he loves to leave him. When he speaks with Freddy on the phone, he continually asks if he is breaking up with him. When Less reaches Louisiana, the theatrical troupe asks him to transport the set in the conversion van. Less dutifully loads and unloads the backdrop as they make their way east. On the last stop of the tour, Less hears his father’s voice in the audience. When he approaches him after the performance, the moment holds neither joy or disappointment. That evening, hurricane Herman blows away the set pieces.

While Less is travelling across the South, Freddy is in Maine at a conference. He had waited for his partner to join him but is tired of Less’s continuous delays. Freddy books a room at a bed and breakfast on the easternmost island in America and throws his phone in the ocean. After the hurricane, Less drives to Delaware for the first stop on his literary tour of the east coast. However, when he arrives at the engagement, the deaconess informs him that the reading is over. Less realizes that the literary tour and multiple of his other recent gigs were meant for the other author named Arthur Less. At the end of the novel, Less sets off to find Freddy and chases the transcontinental train that Freddy is on until they are reunited.