Genre-bender

Asked about his choice of topics, he says: "There will always be things I would be interested in and curious about, therefore writing a book could be a continuing self-education. I just want to find out about a subject to my own satisfaction to see why it has a great effect on me."

Commenting on his works, James Wood in the New Yorker says: "Geoff Dyer delights in producing books that are unique, like keys. There is nothing anywhere like Dyer's semi-fictional rhapsody about jazz, But Beautiful, or his book about the World War I, The Missing of the Somme, or his autobiographical essay about D. H. Lawrence, Out of Sheer Rage, or his travelogue Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It."

Dyer, who was born in 1958 in Cheltenham, England, and graduated from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, says his parents are not readers of his works, and they have no books in the house except for the only one by him.

He adds his passion for writing started with avid reading, and his career was launched by writing reviews.

Dyer, who currently teaches two classes a week at the University of Southern California, says:"The first stage of becoming a writer is to read a lot. The way you teach writing is by teaching reading."

Dyer's works have been translated into 25 languages. And some of his Chinese versions are done by writer and translator Kong Yalei.

Incidentally, it was Kong who introduced Dyer's body of work to Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House.

"I really enjoy Dyer's works, so I started to translate them," Kong says."But it's not easy. However, I've seldom seen a writer with the ability to bring sound and music to you when you are reading about them."

Meanwhile, Dyer has two books coming out in China this year, one of which is dedicated to his icon and friend John Berger.