World War to a Whale of a Tale

Eric Jay Dolin

Well, I finished the novel about the unfortunate football players who, except for the narrator, all lose their lives in WWII.  It turned out to be pretty good and got me interested in wartime propaganda and in-house reporting and the real people who inspired the novel. I'm not sure I will read anything else by the author, but I can recommend his books to anyone who likes that sort of stuff.

I've started on a new "D" book: Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, by Eric J. Dolin. As the title claims, it is a history of the whaling industry, from its earliest beginnings before the colonies were established, through its heyday in the 19th century, to its current diminished state. I've read about a third so far and it's pretty interesting, despite its rather detailed descriptions of whales, boats and whaling procedures. I'm learning a lot about the types of whales considered good to hunt (right, for one) and what sorts of commodities whalers would extract from the unfortunate giant beasts. I'm looking forward to learning more in the days ahead.