Andrew Sean Greer

"You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes--it would be too awkward. And you can't say no--it would look like defeat. On your desk are invitations to half-baked literary events around the world. Question: How do you arrange to skip town? Answer: You accept them all. What would possibly go wrong?"--

Arthur Less, after the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis, sets out on a literary adventure across the United States, during which he must finally face his personal demons.