Agent Palmer

As the year comes to a close we all tend to look back at the year that was. There are recap posts for all manner of things and I considered a good many of them; my most popular posts, my favorite movies, my own self-serving personal accomplishments, remembering those we lost, best television series, top this, best that, it goes on and on. But I’m not doing any of those.

I’ve decided to share with you, again in some cases, one quote from each of the books that I read this year.

Deep Undercover by Jack Barsky is the story of a former KGB spy turned Americanized operative turned American citizen, an enthralling and compelling read.

In truth, the most direct and apt description of the book is contained in the afterword, written by the CIA agent who brought him in, Joe Reilly. “This book takes you through many adventures and reveals much about the world of the Cold War. But the most interesting parts are about the man himself.

Empire of Imagination by Michael Witwer is a grand retelling of the life and times of Ernest Gary Gygax, from his childhood and earliest inspirations, playfulness, and adventurousness ness to his early wargaming and the creation of the game which is synonymous with his name Dungeons & Dragons, to the exile from the company he founded in TSR and his resurgence as a celebrity. It’s all in the pages of this books.

The author of this book takes a novel approach to the telling of Gygax’s life story by making a narrative out of it.