-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this magical and madcap tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills.
Broke and directionless, our young man (the chosen moniker of Villa Coco's narrator) takes a job in the Italian countryside as the all-purpose assistant (technically, the employment ad asked for "adjutant") to Lisabetta, known to her friends as Coco, a strong-willed, wealthy widow of great local renown. Technically, our young man is an archivist, charged with cataloguing Coco's extensive and eclectic collection of art and artifacts, but what are his actual duties? He is charged with ridding the house of a marten, whatever that is, locating the antediluvian septic system, entertaining an endless carousel of guests (from bohemian painters to elderly princesses to handsome nephews), attending a funeral in order to make off with the urn, and not inadvertently sabotaging Coco's great and final plan—to locate the lost love of her life and be reunited before it's too late.
Told with the signature wit, insight, and deeply felt humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself—a romp through a youthfully self-constructed emotional obstacle course, a meditation on what we give and take from others, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who you've always wanted to be.
"From the first delightful sentence of this novel to its unconventional and satisfying conclusion, Greer takes readers on a charming Italian sojourn in which nothing is precisely what it seems...While the twists and turns of the plot will keep readers smiling, a deeper theme emerges about finding one's place in the world...Disguised as a frothy, farcical romp, Greer's novel is a heartfelt and poignant tribute to the mysterious process of growing up." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Charming from start to finish ... Seductively entertaining ... [Villa Coco] feels itself like a proverbial box of chocolates—a treasure chest of surprises waiting to be sampled. ... Greer's novel is a Tuscan romp that overflows with sunshine and surprises while providing a deep meditation on growing up, growing old and navigating the many crossroads in between."
—BookPage (starred review)
"A [charming] love letter to Italy ... Greer breathes life into the Baronessa and her world and captures its appeal to [the narrator], fashioning the novel into a box of treasures. This light and airy bildungsroman is great fun." —Publishers Weekly
"Part caper, part coming-of-age story, Greer's latest comic examination of life entertains and edifies—not an easy balancing act.... [Told] in Greer's trademark style of observational humor, keen descriptions, and affectionate exposition of his characters' foibles ... A delightful distraction from the mundane." —Kirkus Reviews
"Richly descriptive, wonderfully written ... Greer's meditative, beautiful prose brings the gleaming olive groves and superb characters to life in uproarious detail, while the many silly capers are fantastically entertaining. Splendidly paced, this bildungsroman is, in keeping with Greer's signature qualities, funny, moving, and quietly profound from start to finish." —Booklist
"Greer has created a delightfully eccentric tale filled with colorful characters and unusual developments.... To catalog the items in a villa is one thing. To classify the mysteries of the human heart requires a completely different inventory system, as Greer demonstrates in this seductive work." —Shelf Awareness
"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, author of Still Life
"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, author of The Husbands
This information about Villa Coco was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Andrew Sean Greer is the bestselling author of seven works of fiction, including Pulitzer Prize winner Less and its companion Less Is Lost. He is the recipient of the Northern California Book Award, the California Book Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, the O. Henry award for short fiction, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Public Library. Greer lives in Venice.
If you liked Villa Coco, try these:
Poetry is like fish: if it's fresh, it's good; if it's stale, it's bad; and if you're not certain, try it on the ...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
