Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills.
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: People, TIME, Esquire, Oprah Daily, Lit Hub, Seattle Times
‘No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings.’ —David Sedaris, author of Happy-Go-Lucky
‘An absolute delight.’—Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or
‘Such a sunny book.’—Kate Atkinson, author of Shrines of Gaiety
An aspiring archivist determined to begin a ‘serious’ life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.
Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.
Genre: Literary Fiction
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: People, TIME, Esquire, Oprah Daily, Lit Hub, Seattle Times
‘No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings.’ —David Sedaris, author of Happy-Go-Lucky
‘An absolute delight.’—Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or
‘Such a sunny book.’—Kate Atkinson, author of Shrines of Gaiety
An aspiring archivist determined to begin a ‘serious’ life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.
Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Not only [is Greer] the funniest of writers, but he has a wonderful way with conjuring an image. . . . Villa Coco is such a sunny book." - Kate Atkinson
"An absolute delight." - Elif Batuman
"What a beautiful book: an absolutely engrossing world full of golden sunlight and strange little secrets and anchovies and art. I feel like I'd recognize its glorious haphazard villa and determined Baronessa on sight." - Holly Gramazio
"Outrageously good fun. The intricacies unspool, the characters fizz, the chaos ensures. Sheer, riotous, unmitigated joy." - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
"In prose as expert and precise as the steps of a Balinese dancer, Andrew Sean Greer has written a tale of a young American man who spends a season in Tuscany working as an archivist for an endlessly demanding, supremely disorganized, and very charismatic Baronessa. It's a lyrical and witty reminder that the most meaningful life - and certainly the one with the best stories - can emerge from the deepest chaos. Villa Coco, the Baronessa's crumbling mansion, is referred to by all as 'a great treasure.' Villa Coco, the novel, is one, too." - Katherine Heiny
"No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings." - David Sedaris
"This book is absolute magic. It is so rare to find a novel today that is both so sophisticated and warm-hearted, so erudite and yet absolutely unpretentious, so terrifically page-by-page funny and yet so full of hidden sadnesses. Also, it features one of the greatest characters in modern fiction, the unflappable and unforgettable Baronessa. Get ready for the literary treat of the year!" - Gary Shteyngart
"Eccentric, funny, touching: I adored it." - Nina Stibbe
"What, at first, appears to be a gloriously bonkers escapade amidst the Tuscan landscape gradually transforms into the most beautiful paean to youth, to age and to the fulfilment of love. Absolute joy." - Sarah Winman
"An absolute delight." - Elif Batuman
"What a beautiful book: an absolutely engrossing world full of golden sunlight and strange little secrets and anchovies and art. I feel like I'd recognize its glorious haphazard villa and determined Baronessa on sight." - Holly Gramazio
"Outrageously good fun. The intricacies unspool, the characters fizz, the chaos ensures. Sheer, riotous, unmitigated joy." - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
"In prose as expert and precise as the steps of a Balinese dancer, Andrew Sean Greer has written a tale of a young American man who spends a season in Tuscany working as an archivist for an endlessly demanding, supremely disorganized, and very charismatic Baronessa. It's a lyrical and witty reminder that the most meaningful life - and certainly the one with the best stories - can emerge from the deepest chaos. Villa Coco, the Baronessa's crumbling mansion, is referred to by all as 'a great treasure.' Villa Coco, the novel, is one, too." - Katherine Heiny
"No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings." - David Sedaris
"This book is absolute magic. It is so rare to find a novel today that is both so sophisticated and warm-hearted, so erudite and yet absolutely unpretentious, so terrifically page-by-page funny and yet so full of hidden sadnesses. Also, it features one of the greatest characters in modern fiction, the unflappable and unforgettable Baronessa. Get ready for the literary treat of the year!" - Gary Shteyngart
"Eccentric, funny, touching: I adored it." - Nina Stibbe
"What, at first, appears to be a gloriously bonkers escapade amidst the Tuscan landscape gradually transforms into the most beautiful paean to youth, to age and to the fulfilment of love. Absolute joy." - Sarah Winman
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Andrew Sean Greer's Villa Coco