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…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

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.

If you love Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 85 books like Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi.

Browse books like Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Book cover of My Brilliant Friend
Book cover of Midnight's Children
Book cover of Fall on Your Knees

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,298

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, you might also like...

Book cover of Karl's War

Karl's War by Neil Spark,

Karl's War is a coming-of-age-meets-thriller set in Germany on the eve of Hitler coming to power. Karl – a reluctant poster boy for the Nazis – meets Jewish Ben and his world is up-turned.

Ben and his family flee to France. Karl joins the German army but deserts and finds…

Book cover of Girl in the Ashes

Girl in the Ashes by Douglas Weissman,

Odette Lefebvre is a serial killer stalking the shadows of Nazi-occupied Paris and must confront both the evils of those she murders and the darkness of her own past.

This young woman's childhood trauma shapes her complex journey through World War II France, where she walks a razor's edge…

5 book lists we think you will like!