Geoff Dyer
Geoff Dyer is a British writer. His many books include Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It and But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz. He lives in London.
Books by Geoff Dyer
See/Saw: Looking at Photographs
by Geoff Dyer
The wonderful Geoff Dyer, writer of genre-defying fiction and nonfiction, has gathered together his criticism in this photography book. His last photography book, The Ongoing Moment, won the ICP Infinity Award for Writing on Photography as well as being recommended on Five Books. Geoff spoke to us about five works of literary nonfiction which he described as 'unusual histories.'
“It’s a very brilliant and unusual way of entering this material. People tend to isolate photographers and write monographs about one at a time.” Read more...
Rachel Cohen on Writing About Art
Rachel Cohen, Art Historians, Critics & Curator
Zona
by Geoff Dyer
I increasingly like mad books, and I particularly like the kind of books that could never have got commissioned on the basis of a proposal. I like books that are not reduceable to a proposal. This new book of mine exemplifies that. It’s this crazy thing where I basically summarise, in a lunatic, unbelievably detailed way, a film that’s meant a great deal to me, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker. It describes the journey into the forbidden zone where two people are taken, Writer and Professor, by this guide, a Stalker. At the heart of the zone it’s claimed there is a room where your deepest wishes can come true. That’s it, that’s what happens in the film.
“It’s a book about his mind, which I think is both interesting and funny. And he is charming as a writer. He is constantly flitting with ideas about all sorts of stuff – not big ideas, but things such as how easy it is to lose your hotel room key and why grass is green (literally). There is lots of stuff in it, hung together by the force of his personality. You would have a hard time describing it to a publisher. “ Read more...
Alain de Botton, Philosopher
Interviews with Geoff Dyer
Unusual Histories, recommended by Geoff Dyer
The author of But Beautiful and Zona tells us about different ways of writing history, and gives us five examples where innovative or experimental approaches have paid off.
Interviews where books by Geoff Dyer were recommended
Illuminating Essays, recommended by Alain de Botton
The essay format allows the author to develop ideas but add a personal touch, says the popular philosopher Alain de Botton. Here, he chooses his favourite essay collections
Rachel Cohen on Writing About Art
Good writing about visual experience allows us to see things we otherwise wouldn’t, says Rachel Cohen. The author picks some of her own favourite books about art.
