It is still wide open for some great young writer, straight or gay. That being said, a somewhat prescient interview given by Greer in 2013 found him saying of the “nicheness” of “gay writing” at the time, “I can’t wait to see what lies ahead. Everything is politically motivated, after all. For to select a strictly white male in the current landscape is not easily accepted. That ex-love being Freddy, a man who was really just a boy when Arthur first met him, and assumed that he could hardly pose a threat to his heart: “Some kid who couldn’t even name The Beatles? A diversion a pastime a hobby.” Ah yes, for those of you who were looking for a clincher on why Less, a comedic novel was selected by the committee, it surely had something to do with its author and protagonist being gay. What’s even better is that Less tells the tale that so many of us Italian refugees are all too familiar with: finding out that an ex-love is getting married. You don’t have to sound like a pompous dickhead that no one understands in order for your novel to be considered “literary.” And isn’t that a relief? The thought that maybe this shift is going to recalibrate the way so many writers–especially of the white male variety–force a style upon themselves, the one they think will get them the coveted life goal we all want: immortality through art (though, if we’re being truly honest, that’s another false myth, because I can guarantee no one from Generation Z will ever care about Le Père Goriot as it ought to be).
While, in the past, this reverence has only really fallen to A Confederacy of Dunces (lord knows David Sedaris ain’t gettin’ no respect), Less has carved out a new opportunity to show writers so often fearful of an even slimmer chance of ever getting their book published–let alone deemed “worthy” by those old guard institutions–that there is hope. That momentous thing? A comedic novel being taken seriously. winning the prize in the category of musical composition (which, perhaps the Nobel Committee would do well to create for themselves). That’s right we’re talking about something just as momentous as Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. This happened in an egregious fashion with Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize, but for this year’s Pulitzer Prize winner in literature, Andrew Sean Greer and his novel, Less, we’re looking at a sea change unlike any other that has been seen in the literary world of late. The most polarizing occurrences tend to happen when stodgy institutions start to get on board–generally well after the zeitgeist has already happened–with a certain “trend” that will make them more palatable to the mainstream, leading those who still “uphold their medium to a certain standard” scratching their heads violently with skepticism.
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