Geoff Dyer Libri

Jeff Atman, critico frustrato e lunatico, vivacchia ai margini del mondo dell'arte e si prepara senza troppo entusiasmo alla trasferta veneziana per la Biennale. In agenda una serie di impegni scarsamente eccitanti: un'intervista, alcuni party, la visita a mostre e installazioni. Ma l'inatteso incontro con Laura, durante uno degli eventi mondani, ha il potere di distorglierlo dal suo culto del pessimismo cosmico. Infiammando, con una relazione intensamente erotica, il suo breve soggiorno nella caldissima città lagunare. Un'altra città, un altro viaggio di lavoro. Questa volta sulle rive del Gange, a Varanasi, luogo sacro indú. Girovagando tra la folla che si accalca sui ghat, tra i templi, la sporcizia e le pire funebri, Jeff si lascia incantare dalla grandiosità e della marcescenza di un luogo che è un punto di incontro tra vita e morte. E senza una precisa intenzione di ripartire, si prepara a un'altra, piú profonda, trasformazione.

From Here to There: Alec Soth’s Americ a zeigt erstmals das komplette Spektrum des Werkes von Alec Soth (*1969 in Minneapolis), einem der interessantesten Vertreter der zeitgenössischen Fotografie, dessen fesselnde Bilder vom Alltag in Amerika kraftvolle erzählerische Vignetten darstellen. Neben mehr als 200 Fotografien des Künstlers aus den letzten 15 Jahren enthält die Publikation neue kritische Essays, die Hintergrundinformationen zum Arbeitsprozess des Künstlers bieten, zur fotografiegeschichtlichen Tradition, die seiner Praxis zugrunde liegt, sowie Überlegungen zu seiner neuesten Werkserie. Zusätzlich beinhaltet der Katalog ein 48-seitiges Künstlerbuch mit dem Titel The Loneliest Man in Missouri: ein fotografischer Essay mit kurzen, tagebuchähnlichen Texten, der die Banalität und Langeweile städtischer Randgebiete im Mittleren Westen mit ihren Restaurantketten, Striplokalen und Parkanlagen rund um Bürogebäude einfängt. Ausstellungen: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis 12.9.2010–2.1.2011 Und weitere Stationen

In a series of fictional portraits, Geoff Dyer captures the beating heart of jazz, its pathos and lyricism, urgency and self-destruction: Charlie Mingus in New York; Art Pepper in prison; Lester Young in the Alvin; Bud Powell in Paris. 'Drawing on how he hears the music of people like Mingus, Monk, Bud Powell, Art Pepper and Lester Young, Dyer has constructed eight variations like highly concentrated novels, 80 per cent proof swigs of fiction. The result, I think, is brilliant...His attempts to recreate the drug-fogged, music-drenched, reality-melting, racism-crazed insides of the minds of people like Powell, Mingus, Webster and Chet Baker are unnervingly effective. So too, are his pen-portraits of their music ...his long postscript on jazz today shows that he can operate as a lucid and catholic jazz critic as well' Miles Kington, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

A wonderful, nostalgic novel about youth in London in the 1980s

The American writer, John Cheever, died in 1982, leaving behind 29 loose-leaf notebooks begun in the late Forties. They form the content of this book. His commitment to them was of central importance to his life - as a workbook and a retreat, an unhindered act of self-revelation where he could explore his ambiguities. He loved his wife and their children, but was acutely lonely; he loved women, but he also loved men; he hated himself for his drinking, but for much of his life was dependent upon it; he was a great writer, but one whose acute levels of perception often crippled him as a person.

Every one of the 1001 paintings selected for this book by Professor of Fine Art and internationally acclaimed painter, Professor Stephen Farthing, is reproduced in colour. From Ancient Egyptian wall paintings to contemporary Western canvases, this book is truly comprehensive in scope and beautiful to look at. Within its pages are displayed 1001 of the most memorable, haunting, powerful, important, controversial and arresting paintings that have ever been created. Remarkably, more than 400 twentieth- and twenty-first-century paintings are reproduced in these pages, including newly discovered works from contemporary galleries. Entertaining and informative text written by an international team of artists, curators, art critics and art collectors illuminates both the paintings and the people who painted them. An insightful review accompanies a beautiful reproduction of every painting - an enviable art collection to dip into whenever you please. Organised chronologically, you will discover fascinating and surprising juxtapositions as well as pleasing similarities.Beautifully designed and presented, "1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die" is an essential visual guidebook to sensational paintings from around the world.

The book presents a diverse collection of ideas and themes, showcasing a broad spectrum of knowledge and perspectives. It invites readers to explore various subjects, engaging them with its eclectic approach. The content is designed to provoke thought and inspire curiosity, making it a compelling read for those interested in a wide-ranging exploration of topics.

By sea and on the airwaves, by dollar and yuan, a contest has begun that will shape the next century. If globalisation has been the driving force of the past few decades, the author argues that a more traditional great power-style competition between the US and China will dominate this century.

Republished to mark the centenary of the battle of the Somme Geoff Dyer's classic book is 'the great Great War book of our time' (Observer)