Arthur Less wants nothing but an adventure to get over life, love and loss of both- life & love. And how is he going to do that, well with the help of his ingenious plan to have a trip around the world- new sites, new people, new purposes to look forward to one’s days once again. It surely looks to be a fool proof plan on the paper at least, but how it comes to realisation is another story altogether.

So, here begins Arthur Less’ trip around the world with the first stop happens to be New York City. This is purely a work visit as he is here to interview one famous legendary science fiction writer. But then the enthusiasm to look forward to this new opportunity is shadowed by meeting of an old pal, with an additional reminder of why he is stepping out of the country at the first place. The next stop happens to be the exotic and exciting capital city of Mexico, where Less ends up facing one disastrous situation after another, beginning from his certain childhood memories involving chillies to the unplanned unpredictable ‘una noche con Arthur Less’.

But unpredictability seems to be the main theme of his European jaunts, what with him ending in an exquisite Italian golf resort to his meeting with Bastian in Berlin and then unexpectedly coming across a rather devilishly looking Iberian in Paris. Mind you, none of this is easy for Less; nothing ever is, but he is still holding on the hope of reaching to a better place, perhaps on his next stop to Morocco.

Well, it’s suffice to say that the Moroccan part of his trip, spent between vast sand dunes of Sahara and snow clad mountain resorts is nothing less than an adventure for him. Here he starts accepting the consequences affecting life and fate playing a part in it, now tad more seriously. In the same heightened state of mind, Arthur Less accepts that now he is exactly 50 years of age, older and wiser surely. From here on, his journey is more to complete his two missions- first to complete his book in a tranquil tropical setting near the Arabian Sea of southern India and the second involves testing a series of Japanese banquets which he won as part of a bet.

It’s suffice to say that Arthur Less experiences neither the mangos nor the monsoon rains in India. Rather he ends up reconciling with an old competitor and surprisingly comes out unscathed. And yes, he has certainly taken up the task of getting his novel sorted. But before he could finish the storyline of his latest book, Japan awaits with a promise of trying out traditional cuisine so that he can fulfil his bet of being a food writer for a magazine.

But certainly nothing can prepare him for what awaits him back in San Francisco. Alas, saying further will be giving away a bit too much from the gathering suspense which awaits readers.

Let’s talk about why anyone should read this; well why not? This novel has all the elements of a great dramedy i.e. drama plus comedy with an adorable dose of romance and a bit of suspense too. That’s the reason it is simply worth all the hype and praises which it has garnered from all corners. Like me, you will also start liking Arthur Less a bit more. An endearing, charming read for those lazy summer days, highly recommended indeed.