White sands - Geoff Dyer

SHORTLISTED FOR STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR

From one of Britain's most original writers, White Sands is a creative exploration of why we travel.

Episodic, wide-ranging, funny and smart, the linked journeys recall the themes of Dyer's Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It - albeit with the wisdom of (middle) age.

From a trip to the Lightning Field in New Mexico, to chasing Gauguin's ghost in French Polynesia, from falling for someone who may or may not be a tour guide in Beijing's Forbidden City, to tracking down the house of an intellectual hero in Los Angeles, Dyer pursues all permutations of the peak experience including the trough experience.

In his trademark style he blends travel writing, essay, criticism and fiction with a smart and cantankerous wit that is unmatched. This is a book for armchair travellers and procrastinating philosophers everywhere.