- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Abacus; New edition edition (18 Mar 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0349116237
- ISBN-13: 978-0349116235
- Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 19.2 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 64,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'A freewheeling, bawdy, elegant tour of a brilliant mind' Steve Martin 'Extraordinary ... Hilariously funny ... Absolutely original ... If Hunter S. Thomson, Roland Barthes, Paul Theroux and Sylvia Plath all went on holiday together in the same body, perhaps they would come up with something like it. This is the funniest book I have read for a very long time' William Sutcliffe, Independent on Sunday 'Possibly the best living writer in Britain' DAILY TELEGRAPH
Steve Martin
'A freewheeling, bawdy, elegant tour of a brilliant mind'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A travel book about not being where you are,
By
This review is from: Yoga for People Who Can't be Bothered (Paperback)
This is not Geoff Dyer's best book. In fact, it's his worst, but Dyer's less good books are so much better than most other writer's best books that it deserves five stars anyway.This only appears to be 'Geoff Dyer writes a travel book about some exotic places'. In fact, as fans of the man's work are aware, each book he writes is a chapter in a sort of ongoing autobiography. The problem with this one is that it's the most nakedly autobiographical one, travel books being what they are. The Travel Writer persona is not a mask that suits Dyer. His book on WW1, or his sort-of critical study of DH Lawrence, are more absorbing because they're about Dyer identifying with his subjects. Here, he has only himself as tourist to identify with. It also appears that he wasn't having the best time during his travels; there are strong hints at some sort of serious breakdown. This means that his customary stimulating interest in the outside world is somewhat muted - it's one of the most introspective travel books ever written. Fortunately for us all he seems to have rallied, because he went on to write one of his best and richest books, 'The Ongoing Moment', a superb meditation on photography. In the meantime, savour this book for its melancholy, its troubled nostalgia, its longing to be somewhere else, and not least for its hilarious account of the author attempting to change out of his wet trousers in the toilet of a cafe in Amsterdam while very, very stoned - possibly the funniest two pages of English literature I have ever read.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
"Self-Indulgence For Those Who Can Be Bothered To Finish The Book",
By
This review is from: Yoga for People Who Can't be Bothered (Paperback)
I finished reading this book last night and breathed a deep sigh of relief when I got to the final page.Dyer is clearly very erudite and his artistic,poetic,philosophical and anthropological references are no doubt well-informed (although often quite tenuous!)but my overall feeling about his musings are that of the kind of people you meet when far away from home who are pot-smoking drifters who take great pleasure in leading the lives of self-professed 'hippies' and over-philosophising everything which, after several chapters, becomes highly irritating, particularly as Dyer is so self-congratulatory about his ramblings and those of his girlfriend 'Circle' (oh please...). Many of us can identify with the experience of getting to know oneself and finding some kind of inner peace and I too have a knowledge of the arts etc... and understand the allusions but feel the book is totally self-indulgent and has no more of a 'wow' factor than any other amateur travel journal.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
insightful,
By JamieJ (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Yoga for People Who Can't be Bothered (Paperback)
cast from a range of exotic locations, these essays/stories/episodes all feel quite separate and yet all clearly come from the same mind. Dyer has a unique and yet universal view of how things seem and the strange moments and locations that bring out who we really are. Immediately feels familiar and like nothing else I've read. His writing feels very natural and unaffected. It feels more honest and yet is very smooth.I think negative reviews are probably due to frustrations with the disjointed style and locations, and I did find myself longing for more linkages and continuity, but hey you take what you can get. Well worth a read.
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