Agent Palmer

I enjoy baseball, and I enjoy spy and espionage books, films and series. It would seem, then, that The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg was bound to not only interest me, but intrigue and entertain me as well. I would argue that sociologists and psychologists would also enjoy this book, as the curious case of Moe Berg is more than what it seems.

Despite the research completed here by author Nicholas Dawidoff and other books written about him, the constant in this book is what we don’t know.

Enough with the trilogies!

I recently read a pretty good book. But it was published at the height of publishing’s trilogy mania and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t quite enjoy it enough to continue with the trilogy. And that’s kind of a shame, because about two-thirds the way through the book, I knew there wouldn’t be any answers when I finished it.

Now, that’s not the case for all trilogies.

Did you know that magazine writers and short story crafters can have greatest hits collections, just like any band? That’s what The Thurber Carnival is for prolific writer James Thurber.

There is something wonderful about Thurber’s prose, as well as his drawings, his perspective, his personal history, and his humor.