Sam Leith
Unreal Cities
Geoff Dyer, as it's by now no more than a truism to acknowledge, is a writer of rare and eccentric talents. He seldom produces anything that fits into a straightforward genre, preferring to stir reflection, reportage, memoir and interdisciplinary criticism into books that are quite sui generis.
Hence this brilliant but broken-backed book, with its brilliant but broken-backed title. It's a bit confusing. Jeff is in Venice, but Jeff is not Geoff. There is death in Varanasi – death is endemic there, death as a spectator sport, the permanent circus of mourning at the burning
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'It soon becomes clear that what we have in our hands (or, given its hefty 600-odd pages, on our desks) is a peculiar kind of haunted-house drama.'
Patrick McCabe's 'Poguemahone' is 'ambitious and disturbing', says @funesdamemorius.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/it-started-with-a-kiss
'This is entertainment of the highest class.'
@NJCooper_crime reviews new thrillers by Mick Herron, Kassandra Montag, @LVaughanwrites, @AuthorSJBolton, @ajaychow, @tombradby, @SaraParetsky, @writejemmawayne & @GillianMAuthor.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/may-2022-crime-round-up
'The day Simon and I Vespa-d from Daunt to Daunt to John Sandoe to Hatchards to Goldsboro, places where many of the booksellers have become my friends over the years, was the one with the high puffy clouds, the very strong breeze, the cool-warm sunlight.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/temple-of-vespa