Agent Palmer

Of all things Geek. I am…

School Spirit, Like the Yearbooks that Inspired it, is a Neat Narrative Time Capsule

Time capsules aren’t often great at relevance, but this book as “a construct amassed from American High School Yearbooks” by Pierre Huyghe and Douglas Coupland is a time capsule that endures.

School Spirit is “an excursion through the soul of a dead and disembodied student lost inside the memories and infrastructure of a California High School.” That’s the premise, but as explained in the book, Kelly, our dearly departed guide, can visit other high schools.

Declassify >

Ever the Scientist, Sagan Connected All the Dots in the Original Cosmos

COSMOS Carl Sagan

If you want to go back to school to learn all there is to know of the known and unknown universe, you can’t do much better than the 365 pages of Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

“The Cosmos television series and this book represent a hopeful experiment in communicating some of the ideas, methods and joys of science.” This, at least in print form, is completely accomplished.

Declassify >

Spoiler Free Review

Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman Spoiler Free Review

Human Condition the Subtle Neon Glimmer of Downtown Owl

I decided to pick up Downtown Owl again. I originally read it much closer to its release in 2008 for two reasons. First, Klosterman is an author whom I enjoy, and because I want to include a review or an essay on each of his works on this blog I was surprised that I hadn’t reviewed Downtown Owl before. Considering that I read it before this blog started, that makes a ton of sense.

Declassify >

Spoiler Free Review

Spoiler Free Douglas Coupland The Gum Thief

The Gum Thief Wears the Rose-Colored Glasses of Nostalgia Well

Roger is not where he wants to be, working at Staples well past the age where that would have been noble. Bethany is Roger’s much younger co-worker who discovers that he’s a writer, or at least he’s attempting to be. What follows is a collection of letters and emails written by the characters that move the story along revealing the world as we know it.

Declassify >