preorder new novel Villa coco now! 

Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer (“A great chronicler of our times.” –San Francisco Chronicle) 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.

Advance praise for Villa Coco

“Delightful. . . A charming Italian sojourn in which nothing is precisely what it seems. . . 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)

“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

“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.”

Publisher’s Weekly

‘Greer is not only the funniest of writers, but he has a wonderful way with conjuring an image . . . Villa Coco is such a sunny book’

Kate Atkinson

‘No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings’

David Sedaris

‘An absolute delight’

Elif Batuman

‘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

‘Eccentric, funny, touching: I adored it’

Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina and Man at the Helm

‘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, author of Standard Deviation

‘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 recognise its glorious haphazard villa and determined Baronessa on sight’

Holly Gramazio, author of The Husbands

‘Outrageously good fun. The intricacies unspool, the characters fizz, the chaos ensures. Sheer, riotous, unmitigated joy’

Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies and Almost Life

‘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, author of Vera, or Faith