Interview Roundup

I've mentioned my enthusiasm for Old Boys and Charles McCarry before in these pages, so it will come as not surprise that I'm enthused to read Robert Birnbaum's chat with McCarry. Right off the bat, I learned that he co-wrote Don Regan's memoirs, so we partially have McCarry to thank for the revelations about Ronald Reagan being our first New Age president.

The conversation itself is highly interesting, beginning with McCarry's claim that he never met a conservative intelligence agent:

They were, at least in the operations side where I was, there were wall-to-wall knee-jerk liberals. And they were befuddled that the left outside the agency regarded them as some sort of right-wing threat. Because they were the absolute opposite, in their own politics.

He also confirms what others have mentioned in comments here about Overlook's plans to reissue the backlist, quite possibly as early as September. Count me in!

Meanwhile, in the Believer, Susan Choi chats with Francisco Goldman.