Agent Palmer

I read and loved Attempting Normal, so much so, that I now own two copies. The paperback that I read and a hardcover copy signed by Marc Maron himself. But once I read that book, I realized that I wanted to read more from Marc, apparently listening twice weekly to WTF with Marc Maron just isn’t enough, so I picked up a copy of The Jerusalem Syndrome: My Life As a Reluctant Messiah and it did not disappoint.

Written back in 2001, the jokes, diatribes, and issues that Marc dealt with during the period of time predating this book’s publishing all appear to still hold validity to this day.

For those that don’t “get” podcasting there is a misconception that it’s just “one of those things that other people do.” But it’s not just one of those things. More and more people are turning to podcasts. It’s a skyrocketing medium.

Just like books, movies, and television, podcasting has many genres and from episode to episode those genres may coalesce into something new or different, but just like the former they can make us laugh, cry, think, and feel.

I saw Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and I wasn’t that impressed. Some people are telling me that it means I’m not a “hardcore” Star Wars fan, but I’m more inclined to think it just means, I won’t be taken with a movie simply because you slap “Star Wars” in the title.

Sure, it had some good parts and it wasn’t a bad film, but it was not one of those movies that I was as energized with as the end credits rolled, as I was when the opening fanfare began.

What makes for a better movie experience than relatable characters and their relationships? To that effect, what makes a better movie than Barry Levinson’s Diner, where there’s a way to find a portion of yourself in each character on the screen.

One other thing that you have in common with the main characters, or should have in common with the boys – Eddie, Shrevie, Boogie, Fenwick, Billy, and Modell – is that they are all kids at heart.

“Len Deighton, the mastercraftsman of spy thrillers, here applies his eye for stunning detail and his story-telling skill to the novel of action. With documentary precision, he has created a powerful panoramic account of a bombing raid over the Ruhr during World War II. And in the process, he has written a devastating indictment of war and of the mechanical processes – in man and society – that perpetuate it.”

That’s the first paragraph on the inside dust cover of Bomber by Len Deighton and it is a perfect description of the book.