Kathmandu, April 20 -- A failing, disgruntled, middle-aged writer travels the world to forget his beloved, and finds love again where he least expects it. Nothing unique about the concept. Eat Pray Love has familiarised everyone to this journey of self-discovery, where the mind and heart travel as much as the limbs. There are countless other works of fiction and memory, peppered with unexpected quests and semi-surprising discoveries.

The difference, in Andrew Sean Greer's novel Less, is his indulgence of words. Or rather, how the words tend to indulge him, and are ready to be petted and moulded into any shape he chooses. His descriptions are vivid, forming connotations and associations, opening up and unfurling until the scene comes aliv...