by John Berger
First published 2012
G. moves through early twentieth century Europe, collecting sexual conquests with methodical precision. He seduces women in Italian cities where workers clash with authorities and crosses borders where armies gather for conflict. Each encounter follows a pattern. G. approaches, charms, and departs, leaving behind women who discover something unexpected about themselves through their brief time with him. He operates with a libertine's calculated detachment, yet tenderness marks even his most fleeting affairs. The women respond to something in G. that makes them feel remarkable, if only temporarily. His sexual adventures accumulate like a collection, each one adding weight to those before it. Meanwhile, Europe transforms around him. Garibaldi fights to unify Italy, Milanese workers revolt and fail, the Boer War rages in distant Africa, and aviators make their first dangerous flights over Alpine peaks. G. remains focused on his private campaign of seduction, but history's larger forces press closer. Berger reveals how G.'s endless pursuit of women stems from his deep isolation and how the women themselves use these encounters to touch their own sense of the extraordinary.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, european-literature
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: libertine, sexual-conquest
Setting: Africa, Alps, Italy, Milanese
Period: Boer War, Early 20th Century
336 pages · Paperback · Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Content warnings: sexual-content