Villa Coco
A Novel
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Villa Coco
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About this listen
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
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.
Critic reviews
“[Greer] captures the allure of la dolce vita—Renaissance paintings and books, bottles of Lambrusco wine and gelato—all bathed in a buttery Tuscan light.”
—TIME
“Travel to Italy without leaving your reading chair with the Pulitzer Prize winner's latest.”
—People
“[A] warm, witty escape, this time with olive oil and mild chaos.”
—Oprah Daily
“No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings.”
—David Sedaris
“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
“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, author of Games and Rituals
“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
—TIME
“Travel to Italy without leaving your reading chair with the Pulitzer Prize winner's latest.”
—People
“[A] warm, witty escape, this time with olive oil and mild chaos.”
—Oprah Daily
“No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings.”
—David Sedaris
“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
“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, author of Games and Rituals
“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
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