Jay Swan
@sanjuanswan
mountains, books, bikes, intelligence history, modernism. Formerly, threat intel @ GitHub.
e.e. cummings, famous neighbor of Djuna Barnes, who doesn't have my heart but maybe my sense of awe.
Finished the Iliad last week, for the first time since 1987. I liked it a lot more this time than when I was 18. I especially enjoyed Wilson’s occasionally dry endnotes, like “It is unlikely that horses would enjoy wine.”
Finished H.D.'s dark novella about the extremely complicated Bauhaus bisexual polycule situation that she inhabited in Switzerland circa 1930. One of her more accessible works of fiction, it's a nice reminder that while the past may be a another country, it also had lots of interpersonal drama.
This doe hangs out in my yard often. There must be some music fans out there who will understand why I call her Meg.
Book stuff: finished Enemies: a History of the FBI by @tim-weiner.bsky.social. Very interesting coverage of the natsec and intel history of the org.
Book stuff: Little Mysteries by Sara Gran was great. Short stories, mostly in Gran’s Claire DeWitt universe.
Book stuff: continuing the renewal of my literary education, I read Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (1936), described in the intro as a modernist classic more heard about than read. As one of the strangest and densest novels I've read, I can see why. 🧵
You might like this then. It was too abstract for me on the first try and so remains on the shelf as illustrative of the principle above.
My first intentional rare book purchase. Not particularly valuable or great condition, but something I’ve wanted for a long time. Following @rebeccaromney.com convinced me that’s a good enough reason.
Finished The CIA: An Imperial History by Hugh Wilford. It’s OK. It focuses mostly on pre-1980 topics, with two short chapters covering the GWOT era. Like most similar books it emphasizes covert action, with the exception of a good chapter on Sherman Kent.
Two of my main interests are intelligence history and modernist writing. For decades I've been fascinated by Norman Holmes Pearson: OSS CI chief in WW2, Yale English prof, a key founder of American Studies, and advocate for avant-garde writers like H.D., Moore, Stevens, etc. This new bio is great.
Finally finished the very long and detailed Cloak & Gown, a history of Yale men in the OSS and early CIA. Particularly interesting to me was the long section about Norman Holmes Pearson, a critical figure in the history of modernist poetry and an early mentor of James Angleton.
Bought a cheap bookshelf (mistake), and the instructions helpfully tell you not to assemble it with a Mini-Uzi. I’m not sure I would have done any worse with one.
Our Man in Havana was as good as everyone says. More Greene in my future. Southeast Utah in the background.
I’ve been reading some fiction lately after a bit of a break from it. Almost finished with the superb A Memory Called Empire by @byzantienne.bsky.social. The cat is neutral.
Post a PERFECT album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana or Pearl Jam or Soundgarden or Alice in Chains Hell Among the Yearlings, Gillian Welch
Raise your hand if you’ve never killed a mouse, stashed it under your favorite piece of tissue paper, sat on it, and left it for your in-laws to find hours later.
German modernist Max Beckmann's "Birds Hell": upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...