Play Book Tag discussion

The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg by Nicholas Dawidoff - 3+* - My Review

The Catcher Was a Spy is a biography of Morris "Moe" Berg (1902-1972), a major league baseball player who later worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Berg attended Princeton, Columbia, and the Sorbonne, spoke seven languages, and spent 15 seasons as a catcher before becoming a World War II spy. He had few close friends or relationships, but his public persona was that of a charming well-traveled renaissance man.

The author interviewed hundreds of people and delved into numerous archives to reconstruct Berg’s life. The first half focuses on his years in baseball and the second on his espionage activities. As a baseball fan, I enjoyed the descriptions of his career as a catcher. One of the most interesting espionage-related segments involves his assignment to gather intelligence on Nazi Germany's nuclear weapons program.

I found the other segments a bit dry and repetitive. Part of the reason, I suspect, is that Moe Berg did not reveal much of himself to others, which of course came in handy as a spy, but it also means that the biographer was at a disadvantage. This book certainly does not glamorize Berg’s life. He comes across as rather sad and lonely, especially after the war. I guess it does not surprise me that the facts are often less glamorous than the myth.

It has a great title though.

It does! I couldn't resist it, especially when one of my Play Harder prompts was to read a book about espionage.