Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

In Venice, Jeff Atman, a jaded, bellini-swigging journalist meets a beautiful woman at the Bienalle and embarks on a drug-soaked, sex-filled, life-changing affair. In Varanasi, an unnamed journalist (who may or may not be Jeff) joins thousands of pilgrims on the banks of the holy Ganges. He intends to stay for a few days but ends up remaining for months. Their journey-as only the irrepressibly entertaining Geoff Dyer could contemplate-makes for an uproarious, fiendishly inventive novel of longing, lust, and neurotic enlightenment.

Geoff Dyer is the author of three novels, a critical study of John Berger, and five genre-defying books, including But Beautiful, which was awarded the Somerset Maugham Prize, and Out of Sheer Rage, which was a National Book Critics Circle finalist. He lives in London.


From the Hardcover edition.