Book cover of Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Book description

A New York Times Notable Book

A Best Book of the Year: The Economist, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Slate.com, and Time

In Venice, at the Biennale, a jaded, bellini-swigging journalist named Jeff Atman meets a beautiful woman and they embark on a passionate affair.

In Varanasi, an unnamed…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Geoff Dyer has a funny, trenchant persona in his writing on travel and art, and this novel delivers those pithy insights through two fictional alter egos. This book does so many things I love, giving me fresh ways to see places, books, and ideas I know but never thought of this way, including new ways of thinking about the self.

The book’s first part tells of a middle-aged Brit called Jeff at the Venice Biennale; in the other, an unnamed middle-aged Brit relates an ill-fated voyage to one of India’s holiest—and most polluted—sites. The title is an obvious play on…

From Padma's list on doubling.

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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

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