This is a book about yoga. Or at least, it was.

January 2015. High on literary success and familial bliss, Emmanuel Carrere embarks on a rigorous ten-day meditative retreat in rural France in search of clarity and material for his next book, which he thinks will be a subtle, upbeat introduction to yoga. But his trip is cut short, and he is brought down to earth with a thud as he returns to a Paris in turmoil in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack.

From then on, Carrere's life begins to unravel, along with his novel-in-progress. He is diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder and is sectioned to a psychiatric hospital for a four-month stint, where he is subject to electroshock therapy. His marriage crumbles, he is struck by grief at the death of a close friend and is haunted by a love affair with a mysterious woman who disappeared from his life. Pushed to the edge of sanity and forced to reckon with his identity as a man and a writer, Carrere sets out on a life of action instead of meditation.

This is a book that embraces the Yin and Yang of life: the pull between life and death, desire and despair, presence and absence, fight and flight. It is a book about a world and a man in tumult, and about how surprisingly far practising meditation - and writing about it - can take us in life. With raw honesty and humour, YOGA gives us the self-portrait of a man struggling to live with himself and others, by one of our greatest and most surprising international writers.

About the Author
Emmanuel Carrere is a novelist, journalist, screenwriter, and film director. He is the award-winning, internationally renowned author of fifteen books including My Life as a Russian Novel, Limonov, The Kingdom, 97,196 Words, and the Sunday Times bestselling The Adversary. He lives in Paris.

Reviews
Completely arresting. He [Carrere] has the talent...of showing us his foibles without demanding that we identify with them. * The Times *
An exhilarating new work of autofiction... It's wonderful. It is Carrere's willingness to face his own flaws full in the face that makes his writing so striking, and - dare I say it - relatable. -- Cal Flyn * Literary Review *
Yoga is the story of how a life can fray, tighten itself into a noose, unravel and, in the process, be built and braided into lines that make up a profound and moving work of art. -- Geoff Dyer
A devastating portrait...[Carrere's] singular, ever-expanding work, in which one pain need never obscure another, in which truths and half-truths are held not in opposition but in delicate, precarious balance, is an answer in itself. -- Sam Byers * Guardian *
I loved Emmanuel Carrere's Yoga... A useful manual for this era, where nothing seems connected but everything's related. -- Adam Thirlwell * Times Literary Supplement *Books of the Year* *
Unlike any book I've ever read... Carrere is anything but ordinary as a talent, but his great and precious gift is to reveal his own mind in such a way that illuminates the infinity that belongs to every human person. -- Megan Nolan, author of ACTS OF DESPERATION
[With] relentless clarity of thought and confessional honesty... Yoga is fascinating on the purpose of meditation... [an] extraordinarily compelling account. * Financial Times *
Stunning...Yoga is a deeply moving reflection on the painful occupation that is living. * Elle *
[Carrere's] skill in constructing a narrative from disparate materials is exceptional... [and] relentlessly interesting. * Observer *
Impressive... reveals itself as a monumental book on the human condition. * L'Obs *
How does one harmonise the yin and yang of a life broken in two? Yoga is the implacable tale of a writer lost in his kingdom. * L'Express *
An immensely engaging, lively and exciting writer... [Yoga] is increasIngly hypnotic; lyrical, hypnotic and elegant. There is no doubt that a great intellect is at work, keen to explore the depths of his own troubled mind. * Big Issue *
A tender, honest, intelligent portrait of the human condition. * Scotsman *
Another book of bracing candour * White Review, *Books of the Year* *
The most exciting living writer. -- Karl Ove Knausgaard



Book Information
ISBN 9781787333215
Author Emmanuel Carrere
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Jonathan Cape Ltd
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 437g
Dimensions(mm) 222mm * 144mm * 31mm