Yoga For People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It

Geoff Dyer won me over last year with his novel Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, so I put his earlier books on my list. This one is a collection of essays that are part autobiography, part travelogue. Dyer can sometimes be guilty of attaching too much importance to the things that happen in his life, but for the most part this series of adventures in Cambodia, Amsterdam, Detroit, and elsewhere is rich in ideas and humor. Dyer is simple and sharp stylist, with a good ear. As jokey and eager to get stoned or laid as he can sometimes be, there is always a humane core -- as when he is genuinely moved at Black Rock City and quotes the line, "No one ever became poor by giving."