The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings

This collection of mostly short essays of the author’s ruminations on different interpretations of endings offers interesting trivia and thought exercises for readers. Dyer pontificates on his own life’s endings, bringing in a memoir appeal, but also relates stories from the sports worlds of tennis and boxing, the music arena from The Doors to John Coltrane, and the lives of various literary figures from Friedrich Nietzsche to Eve Babitz. While structured loosely into three parts, each vignette connects into the next as a kind of meandering train of thought, giving the reader ample room to question how we are remembered and how an ending can be altered and perceived, all while enjoying the commentary. At times the book seems a little random, but Dyer leisurely ties it all together with humor and inquisitiveness and offers a satisfying collection of reflective essays on life and memory that can be read with pauses to think.