Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Reviews

“Dyer is very funny, in both senses—sort of like a post-modern Kingsley Amis. His writing is acute and bad tempered in the great British tradition, and his prose is the equal of anyone in the country. A national treasure.”

“A raucous delight. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi is truly surprising—very funny, full of nerve, gutsy and delicious. Venice will never be the same again!”

“A sad, funny, lyrical, furious story.”

“Profoundly haunting and fearless…Dyer at his very best.”

“Wonderful observations, pungent and funny.”

“No contemporary writer blends genres better than Geoff Dyer, and his latest novel—a vigorous mash-up of satire, romance, travelogue, and existential treatise—is his best yet…Dyer excels at savage comedy—see his tableau of jaded art critics desperately swilling Bellinis—but he’s even better on the profound pleasures and indignities of the flesh, which are the forces that unite his novel’s two very separate worlds.”

“Dyer’s writerly versatility braids into something madly compelling as the narration becomes comically and tragically unreliable.”

“Intoxicating…A roller-coaster ride.”

“Highly imaginative…sensuous, lyrical prose brimming with colorful detail…Dyer [writes with] intelligence and stylistic grace, and his ability to evoke atmosphere with impressive clarity is magical…For all his wit and cleverness, Dyer is unflinching in conveying the empty lives of his contemporaries, and in doing so he’s written a work of exceptional resonance.”

“[Jeff in Venice] is a dirty satire on a decadent scene, but it’s also wise, wistful, funny, and achingly sad.”

“Funny, insightful, and accessible, [Jeff in Venice] allows the reader to move easily between the two cities and connect with the two characters, or two halves of the same person…[Dyer is] an innovative, genre-bending writer.”

“A mere description of the story line only scratches the surface of this funny and mysterious work. Dyer’s witticisms and wordplay, woven into the ongoing commentary of the history, geography, and psychology of Venice and then Varanasi, are brilliant.”

“Geoff Dyer is a True Original—one of those rare voices in contemporary literature that never ceases to surprise, disturb and delight. A must read for our confused and perplexing times.”

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