Geoff Dyer - Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

EXISTENTIAL TALE

Jeff Atman is a middle-aged freelance journalist with a wickedly humorous and cynical outlook on life. We meet him in London, frustrated and world-weary, as he prepares to embark on a press junket to Venice for the Biennale, resulting in a journey that will radically alter him both emotionally and spiritually.

Award-winning scribe Geoff Dyer sets his cleverly-penned fourth novel in a range of distinct locations, as we then head to the holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges. Despite a set of markedly varied experiences in these two ancient places, you can’t help but feel that they are linked in some way; different versions of the same story. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi affirms Dyer’s place as one of Britain’s most witty and original writers; the lively prose, colourful characters and at times extremely poignant descriptions making for both a riveting and really quite brilliant read.