Product Description

In his latest book, Geoff Dyer returns to his favourite subject - himself. In his very distinctive, neurotic, and quirkily humorous voice that has gained him a passionate fan base including Bryan Ferry and Steve Martin, Dyer writes about an accumulation of his experiences as a traveller, from the extraordinary Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert to getting drastically stoned in Paris; from contemplating the great Roman site Leptis Magna in Libya to the downright weirdness of decrepit Detroit. He is both confessional - entertainingly frank about trying to pick up women in Thailand - and very thoughtful - wondering how the power of a particular place such as the Buddha in Si Satchanlai, Thailand, can work on a non-believer. YOGA FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO DO IT confirms Geoff Dyer as 'among the most original and talented writers of his generation' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139067 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 238 pages

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

About the Author
Geoff Dyer is the author of three novels, a critical study of John Berger, and three genre-defying titles: BUT BEAUTIFUL (winner of the Somerset Maugham Prize), THE MISSING OF THE SOMME and OUT OF SHEER RAGE (a finalist, in the US, for a National Book Critics Circle Award). His collection of essays,ANGO- ENGLISH ATTITUDES, was critically acclaimed.

Customer Reviews

"Self-Indulgence For Those Who Can Be Bothered To Finish The Book"
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.

A travel book about not being where you are
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.

Yes dear, of course you're clever (if you say so)
I was willing this book to impress me - I was hoping that I would be entranced by the prose of a genuine intelligence and the accompanying travelogue memoirs. Crikey, was I disappointed.

Self-serving, whining, poorly constructed, inappropriate insertion of quotations, continual assertion (and yet no demonstration) of his alleged intellect. Yawn...

Useful if you have a table with a slightly wobbly leg (for insertion underneath to serve as ballast), I shouldn't bother purchasing it unless you come across it at a charity shop or in one of those fabulous bargain book shops.

The three is purely for the title, which is really very witty. Considering the content of the book itself , that is.