- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Pantheon Books; First Edition edition (Jan 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0375422145
- ISBN-13: 978-0375422140
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 13.7 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,119,846 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
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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
Format: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.
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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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I guess you had to be there...
You either get him or you don't. I do.
Dyer the traveller, journalist, philosopher and comic tour-de-force is often very smarty-pants, arrogant and prone to foreign... Read more
Dyer the traveller, journalist, philosopher and comic tour-de-force is often very smarty-pants, arrogant and prone to foreign... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Eileen Shaw
I didn't finish it You wont either !
Well Paris Trance by the same author is a superb book that I would thoroughly recommend. This is mildly enetertaining in places but ultimately nothing is gained by reading it-it... Read more
Published 22 months ago by M. Brown
Not a travel book, just a book
It seems people who have read this as a travel book have been disappointed, and I can understand why. I think it does the book a gross injustice to read it as a travel book. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2009 by Agent
Are you prepared to make the journey?
At first I found little to admire about Mr. Dyer - a self-confessed drug-taking slacker. At the same time I couldn't help but envy him - his ability to feel at home in many places... Read more
Published on 29 Feb 2008 by stevieby
A tour de force of tediousness
Travel books are invariably about more than mere journeys - they are evocations of places (the sights, the smells); they detail strange cultures experienced and fascinating people... Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2007 by Mr. R. Jessel
Luxury
Dyer manages to sum up the essence of luxury - having the time and freedom from external pressures to navel gaze. Read more
Published on 1 April 2007 by Banana Pancakes
A tour de force of tediousness
Travel books are invariably about more than mere journeys - they are evocations of places (the sights, the smells); they detail strange cultures experienced and fascinating people... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2007 by Mr. R. Jessel
Geoff Dire
Ever had a dinner guest who seems amusing at first, but then doesn't stop talking about himself all night long? Well - this is the book version. Read more
Published on 19 July 2006 by Ichabod J
Witty reflections, a thoroughly enjoyable read
I can't beleive the bad reviews some others have given this book. I guess they just don't get it. I found his prose to be most humerous, dry witty remarks on every page. Read more
Published on 4 May 2006 by A. Shiell
I can't be bothered.
Lured by the title, I had hoped that this would be a travelogue about self-help and the many ways that people around try to achieve calm and relaxation in their lives. Read more
Published on 18 April 2006 by A. Murphy
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