Villa Coco: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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.
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.
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Community Reviews
I requested Villa Coco expecting a charming Italian escape full of wit, heart, and maybe enough focaccia talk to make me hungry.
Well, I was hungry, but mostly for chapters.
The story is divided into three large sections with no chapters in between, which turned reading this book into an endurance event. Nothing says "relaxing Italian escape" quite like desperately searching for a stopping point that doesn't exist.
The writing felt incredibly disjointed and difficult to follow. Characters appeared, disappeared, and wandered back in again. More than once, I found myself flipping back a few pages wondering if I'd accidentally skipped something. Y’all, I had not.
The Tuscan setting was lovely, with beautiful descriptions, moments of wit, and an eccentric cast of characters. Coco herself was particularly intriguing, and there were flashes of the magical charm I was hoping for. Unfortunately, those bright spots were buried beneath a disjointed narrative that seemed determined to make me work for every ounce of understanding. Getting to the good parts felt a bit like hiking uphill in flip-flops while carrying an urn you may or may not have stolen from a funeral (iykyk). By the time I figured out where the story was going, I wasn't entirely sure I cared anymore.
When I reached the end, I admired what the book was trying to do far more than I enjoyed reading it. It wasn't a terrible experience, but it was definitely a long one for such a short book. A very, very long one.
If you're looking for a dreamy Italian countryside story filled with quirky characters and don't mind a narrative that meanders through the vineyards without a map, this may work for you.
As for me, I finished it mostly because I'm stubborn and refuse to let a book win. And because I needed to know if I was ever going to find out the narrator’s real name.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for this review copy.
Well, I was hungry, but mostly for chapters.
The story is divided into three large sections with no chapters in between, which turned reading this book into an endurance event. Nothing says "relaxing Italian escape" quite like desperately searching for a stopping point that doesn't exist.
The writing felt incredibly disjointed and difficult to follow. Characters appeared, disappeared, and wandered back in again. More than once, I found myself flipping back a few pages wondering if I'd accidentally skipped something. Y’all, I had not.
The Tuscan setting was lovely, with beautiful descriptions, moments of wit, and an eccentric cast of characters. Coco herself was particularly intriguing, and there were flashes of the magical charm I was hoping for. Unfortunately, those bright spots were buried beneath a disjointed narrative that seemed determined to make me work for every ounce of understanding. Getting to the good parts felt a bit like hiking uphill in flip-flops while carrying an urn you may or may not have stolen from a funeral (iykyk). By the time I figured out where the story was going, I wasn't entirely sure I cared anymore.
When I reached the end, I admired what the book was trying to do far more than I enjoyed reading it. It wasn't a terrible experience, but it was definitely a long one for such a short book. A very, very long one.
If you're looking for a dreamy Italian countryside story filled with quirky characters and don't mind a narrative that meanders through the vineyards without a map, this may work for you.
As for me, I finished it mostly because I'm stubborn and refuse to let a book win. And because I needed to know if I was ever going to find out the narrator’s real name.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for this review copy.
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