Less Aviation

Robert turned to face Less. "It was the Pulitzer committee," he said evenly. "It turns out I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years."

"You won?"

"It's not Pew-lit-sire. It's Pull-it-sir.' Robert's eyes took another survey of the room. 'Holy f*ck, Arthur, I won."

I wonder whether Andrew Sean Greer's reaction to winning a Pulitzer mirrored the characters in his novel, Less. I do have a moment of disbelief with the above exchange, however. No one seriously pronounces it "Pew-lit-sire", do they?

The novel's titular character, Arthur Less, is about to turn 50. He's a novelist who can't get his latest book published, and he just receives an invitation to his long term former boyfriend's wedding, that's too awkward to attend, but what would it look like if he declined. He needs a good excuse, he needs to skip town. So he accepts all of his invitations to b-list literary events around the world.

The draw of a man of modest success facing his 50th birthday was too strong for this 49 year old ignore. On the other hand, how much do I have in common with this character? This blue suited, blonde haired, gay man who has a better piece of Bay Area real estate than I do. The flashbacks to his past reveal that Arthur and I have very little "shared" histories or parallel experiences.


The novel opens with his first literary event, with Arthur staring at a clock, not wanting to be late to meeting his handler. Only thing, is that the clock is broken. Greer is adept at amusing comedic moments (the clock is actually not the punch line of that story), and we begin, silently laughing at this character. He does seem a bit clown-ish, moving through his life without steering it, his decisions weak, until he finally finds himself, 49, not where he wants to be. Maybe we're not so different. The decision to accept all of the invites around the world might seem bold, but he's also running away from conflict. Less is a hapless world traveler, sticking out with his blonde hair, and signature blue suit. In any case, we get hints of the exotic locales, but we're not immersed in them. Instead, we're immersed in Less' journey, and history, in the myriad of flashbacks, as our omnipresent narrator takes on a character of his own. We learn to love Less along the way, and in a way, ourselves. The ending, folks, had me in tears.

For this novel, I riffed off of the Aviation, a stunning cocktail when well executed, as blue as the sky. Typically made with gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, and a splash of crème de violette, the Aviation is a pre-prohibition cocktail you normally won't find on most menus. This can be a delicate cocktail to balance.  In the Less version, I swapped out the gin, for genever and mescal. Genever is an ancestor to gin, based on malt wine, with a mixture of botanicals including juniper. It's a very well balanced liquor, sweeter than gin, restrained in it's use of juniper, with a smooth, malty mouthfeel. Pairs quite nicely with Mezcal, that lends some smokiness to the cocktail. Keeping the lemon juice, maraschino liqueur , creme de violette, from the Aviation, this cocktail starts off slightly sweeter, becomes more complex in the middle, and finishes cleanly and satisfying. Much like the novel. With the blue color and added lemon peel garnish, it's a visual reminder of Less' cover.

Less Aviation 
INGREDIENTS
1 oz genever
1 oz mezcal
1/2 oz lemon juice
3/4 maraschino liqueur
1/4 creme de violette
brandied cherry, with a lemon peel garnish

Combine all ingredients, except for the garnishes (cherry and lemon peel) in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds, and strain into a martini glass. Serve with the brandied cherry and lemon peel garnish.