Luke Epplin
@lukeepplin.bsky.social
Author of MOSES AND THE DOCTOR (coming February 2026) and OUR TEAM (on Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, Bob Feller) lukeepplin.com Contact: [email protected]
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Luke Epplin
@lukeepplin.bsky.social
· Jun 2
All right, listen up: "Moses and the Doctor" is now available for pre-order. It's got Dr. J, Moses Malone, the ABA, playground basketball, Philly, Houston, Bird and Magic, and much more. It comes out on February 10, 2026. Let's go. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moses-and-...
It's almost Thanksgiving, so I decided to do a silly post on food and my adolescent obsession with cereal--not eating it; making it. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Midwestern Adolescents Dream of Pez Crunch
Or, My Dashed Dreams of Cereal Entrepreneurship
substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:26 AM
It's almost Thanksgiving, so I decided to do a silly post on food and my adolescent obsession with cereal--not eating it; making it. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Somehow, not The Onion....
November 26, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Somehow, not The Onion....
Reposted by Luke Epplin
I wrote about one of my favorite Peanuts comic strips of all time—and a whole bunch of other ones—and why this one might be the richest single expression of Charles Schulz’s interests and imaginative world.
“Peanuts”: Suffering, baseball, and religion
[comics and the problem of evil]
greydanus.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I wrote about one of my favorite Peanuts comic strips of all time—and a whole bunch of other ones—and why this one might be the richest single expression of Charles Schulz’s interests and imaginative world.
This tickles me to no end: The article that I wrote on Peanuts/Calvin and Hobbes ten years ago is once again one of the most-read stories at the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social. The piece has long legs.
November 25, 2025 at 3:40 PM
This tickles me to no end: The article that I wrote on Peanuts/Calvin and Hobbes ten years ago is once again one of the most-read stories at the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social. The piece has long legs.
I worked on two New York Times notable books this year: Jonathan Mahler's "The Gods of New York" and Kiran Desai's "The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny." Both are excellent. I'm blessed that I get to do this for a living. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...
100 Notable Books of 2025
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:35 PM
I worked on two New York Times notable books this year: Jonathan Mahler's "The Gods of New York" and Kiran Desai's "The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny." Both are excellent. I'm blessed that I get to do this for a living. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...
Got this spam email today and for a brief second after reading the first sentence I thought that it was someone taunting me.
November 24, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Got this spam email today and for a brief second after reading the first sentence I thought that it was someone taunting me.
If I didn't have a kid, I'd be bolting up to the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown to check out their exhibit on the art of Calvin and Hobbes. fenimoreartmuseum.org/future-exhib...
Exploring Calvin and Hobbes - Fenimore Art Museum
fenimoreartmuseum.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:44 PM
If I didn't have a kid, I'd be bolting up to the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown to check out their exhibit on the art of Calvin and Hobbes. fenimoreartmuseum.org/future-exhib...
Watched the Eddie Murphy documentary and he remains, decades after giving up standup comedy, effortlessly funny. There's a scene at the end where he gets ventriloquist puppets of Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor and ad-libs comedy gold. Just the way he says "chocolate" in his Cosby voice is hilarious.
November 24, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Watched the Eddie Murphy documentary and he remains, decades after giving up standup comedy, effortlessly funny. There's a scene at the end where he gets ventriloquist puppets of Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor and ad-libs comedy gold. Just the way he says "chocolate" in his Cosby voice is hilarious.
The thing I knew about parenting going in was that I was going to be reading the same books over and over for years. The thing I didn't know was that I wouldn't mind it because it's such a joy to see my daughter discover the wonder of books.
November 24, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The thing I knew about parenting going in was that I was going to be reading the same books over and over for years. The thing I didn't know was that I wouldn't mind it because it's such a joy to see my daughter discover the wonder of books.
I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charlie Brown.
Second prize is a set of steak knives, Charlie Brown
I’m not the guy you kill, Charlie Brown. I’m the guy you buy!
November 24, 2025 at 2:10 AM
I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charlie Brown.
I feel like I'll alone on this one, but I didn't really like "Train Dreams." I *love* the book--have read it three times--and I felt that the movie stripped the main character of his mystery. It made him too angelic, too simple. It made the inexplicable appearance of "Kate" at the end feel unearned.
November 24, 2025 at 1:44 AM
I feel like I'll alone on this one, but I didn't really like "Train Dreams." I *love* the book--have read it three times--and I felt that the movie stripped the main character of his mystery. It made him too angelic, too simple. It made the inexplicable appearance of "Kate" at the end feel unearned.
Introduced my wife to "Days of Heaven" tonight and now there are fewer aces I have up my sleeve.
November 23, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Introduced my wife to "Days of Heaven" tonight and now there are fewer aces I have up my sleeve.
Reposted by Luke Epplin
How cool is this promotion? Preorder! Do wish it came with an extremely hard piece of gum manufactured in 1983, though.
Here's the deal: If you preorder a copy of my upcoming book "Moses and the Doctor" through my publisher, Grand Central, it'll come to you with two custom-made basketball cards of Moses Malone and Dr. J. Get it before it goes on-sale on February 10 here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/grand-centra...
November 22, 2025 at 12:39 PM
How cool is this promotion? Preorder! Do wish it came with an extremely hard piece of gum manufactured in 1983, though.
The thing to remember is that the president got where he is in life not by being a master businessman but by schmoozing with famous people. It shouldn't surprise us that he'd get starstruck by a dashing mayor of the city he once swanned about in.
November 22, 2025 at 1:12 AM
The thing to remember is that the president got where he is in life not by being a master businessman but by schmoozing with famous people. It shouldn't surprise us that he'd get starstruck by a dashing mayor of the city he once swanned about in.
Just finished "Middlemarch" and I'm glad that I waited until after I got married to read this one. It might've frightened me away from marriage entirely, an institution that has been very good to me so far....
November 21, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Just finished "Middlemarch" and I'm glad that I waited until after I got married to read this one. It might've frightened me away from marriage entirely, an institution that has been very good to me so far....
Reposted by Luke Epplin
Seems like quite the deal!
Here's the deal: If you preorder a copy of my upcoming book "Moses and the Doctor" through my publisher, Grand Central, it'll come to you with two custom-made basketball cards of Moses Malone and Dr. J. Get it before it goes on-sale on February 10 here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/grand-centra...
November 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Seems like quite the deal!
Here's the deal: If you preorder a copy of my upcoming book "Moses and the Doctor" through my publisher, Grand Central, it'll come to you with two custom-made basketball cards of Moses Malone and Dr. J. Get it before it goes on-sale on February 10 here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/grand-centra...
November 21, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Here's the deal: If you preorder a copy of my upcoming book "Moses and the Doctor" through my publisher, Grand Central, it'll come to you with two custom-made basketball cards of Moses Malone and Dr. J. Get it before it goes on-sale on February 10 here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/grand-centra...
As someone from a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business, I deeply relate to the societal claustrophobia of "Middlemarch."
November 21, 2025 at 1:21 AM
As someone from a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business, I deeply relate to the societal claustrophobia of "Middlemarch."
All right, we've made the basketball cards of Dr. J and Moses for my upcoming book. Tomorrow my publisher and I will let you all know how you can get them. Guess what--buy the cards and you'll get a book! What a deal!
November 20, 2025 at 3:03 PM
All right, we've made the basketball cards of Dr. J and Moses for my upcoming book. Tomorrow my publisher and I will let you all know how you can get them. Guess what--buy the cards and you'll get a book! What a deal!
About 150 pages from finishing "Middlemarch" and the weight of it is starting to affect me--all the youthful hopes and desires running aground in adulthood. It's also one of the best novels about marriage--its promises and disappointments--that I've ever read.
November 20, 2025 at 2:08 AM
About 150 pages from finishing "Middlemarch" and the weight of it is starting to affect me--all the youthful hopes and desires running aground in adulthood. It's also one of the best novels about marriage--its promises and disappointments--that I've ever read.
Reposted by Luke Epplin
Calvin and Hobbes were formative for my sense of humour, and I still dip in and out of Watterson’s strips today. Fantastic article by Luke.
November 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Calvin and Hobbes were formative for my sense of humour, and I still dip in and out of Watterson’s strips today. Fantastic article by Luke.
For the evening crowd, here's a lost bit of "Our Team," cut from the final book.
For those who want more "Our Team," I included a section that I cut from the final book in today's newsletter. It's a blow-by-blow account of Bob Feller's no-hitter in April 1946 and how that revealed his changed postwar attitude/identity. Enjoy. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Bob Feller’s Enraged No-Hitter
More Deep Cuts from Our Team
substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:07 AM
For the evening crowd, here's a lost bit of "Our Team," cut from the final book.
Reposted by Luke Epplin
This is a fascinating analysis of how history and economics have shaped perspectives in not just industries, but how individual human beings feel about art they're creating. Like after all good articles, I'm now wondering about how other artists (Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred; Pogo; The Perishers) felt.
It's the fortieth anniversary of "Calvin and Hobbes," so I'm reposting the long piece that I wrote about the comic strip for the Los Angeles Review of Books. Outside of my books, it's my favorite long-form thing that I've done. lareviewofbooks.org/article/sell...
Selling Out the Newspaper Comic Strip | Los Angeles Review of Books
The comic strip and its evolution and devolution.
lareviewofbooks.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:34 PM
This is a fascinating analysis of how history and economics have shaped perspectives in not just industries, but how individual human beings feel about art they're creating. Like after all good articles, I'm now wondering about how other artists (Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred; Pogo; The Perishers) felt.
First review of "Moses and the Doctor" is in. It's from Kirkus Reviews, and it's a good one.
November 18, 2025 at 9:02 PM
First review of "Moses and the Doctor" is in. It's from Kirkus Reviews, and it's a good one.
If you want to smile, watch this chat between David Letterman and Jim Downey, the former head writer for Late Night. So many great stories. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQJ...
Dave Talks with Late Night Legend Jim Downey | David Letterman
YouTube video by Letterman
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
If you want to smile, watch this chat between David Letterman and Jim Downey, the former head writer for Late Night. So many great stories. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQJ...