Geoff Dyer--Who is this guy???

Is anyone a fan of author Geoff Dyer. This guy absolutely intrigues me. I started reading him because of his book on photography called The Ongoing Moment. It's hilarious because he's not an expert on photography, he even admits in the book that he doesn't own a camera, but the book is insightful, expansive...I really learned a lot.

But then the guy is also a novelist. I recently saw a book he had written called Paris Trance. There was a naked lady on the cover so I was a little too embarrassed to buy it. I'm a prude, what can I say?

I just don't know how to peg this guy. He's an essayist, novelist, and goodness knows what else. Does he have a cookbook out as well? He's also written a sort meditative post-modern self-help book called Yoga For People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It (isn't that the greatest title?). What an enigma!

Anyway, is this guy well-known? Is he really as brilliant as he seems or is he just all over the place? Paris Trance intrigued me but I was afraid it was going to be too similar to Henry Miller. It's a "Lost Generation" novel about ex-pats in Paris. It could be good or it could be really really bad. I don't know. Every time I read jacket copy that talks about a book being erotic or sensual, I just think it's going to degrade the female characters. My most recent attempts at both Philip Roth and John Updike left me feeling grossed out and alienated from their characters. Because it's always from the male character's perspective, the women just come across as objects the male characters vent all of their frustrations and anxieties on. What's usually described as "erotic" comes across as crude and in humane.