Matthew Goodman
@mgoodmanbooks.bsky.social
Brooklynite, author of narrative histories including the NYT bestseller EIGHTY DAYS and THE CITY GAME, and the recently released PARIS UNDERCOVER. Mets fan. Loves the semicolon.
Pinned
Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal
A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal
bookshop.org
Friends: My new book, PARIS UNDERCOVER, is now on sale!
"One of the best books I've read in ages." -- Sonia Purnell, A Woman of No Importance
"A true original ... a heart-pounding tale of betrayal that is impossible to put down." -- Lynne Olson, Madame Fourcade's Secret War
#booksky #nonfiction
"One of the best books I've read in ages." -- Sonia Purnell, A Woman of No Importance
"A true original ... a heart-pounding tale of betrayal that is impossible to put down." -- Lynne Olson, Madame Fourcade's Secret War
#booksky #nonfiction
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
I think a lot about the story Carl Reiner told: he’d have been a sewing machine repairman if not for a free WPA drama class. That led to other theater work, to Sid Caesar, to Mel Brooks, and all the rest. All because of one free class paid for by a government that felt the arts were worth teaching.
you ever think about the works progress administration? I sure do. I wish that was a thing now. I would be so glad to contribute my labor to like. A random ass local bridge
November 7, 2025 at 1:28 AM
I think a lot about the story Carl Reiner told: he’d have been a sewing machine repairman if not for a free WPA drama class. That led to other theater work, to Sid Caesar, to Mel Brooks, and all the rest. All because of one free class paid for by a government that felt the arts were worth teaching.
To those threatening to leave NYC in the wake of Zohran’s victory, I say the same thing I said to those who fled the city after 9/11:
November 5, 2025 at 2:11 PM
To those threatening to leave NYC in the wake of Zohran’s victory, I say the same thing I said to those who fled the city after 9/11:
A terrific essay by @michaelweinreb.com on the 1950 basketball bookmaking scandal — more relevant than ever after last week’s arrests. “The culture of betting is now so omnipresent in sports,” Weinreb writes, “that it sometimes feels like the central reason why sports exist.” Worth a read!
The Gambler and the Ballplayer (1950)
Seventy-five years after the biggest scandal in basketball history, here we are again.
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 6:25 PM
A terrific essay by @michaelweinreb.com on the 1950 basketball bookmaking scandal — more relevant than ever after last week’s arrests. “The culture of betting is now so omnipresent in sports,” Weinreb writes, “that it sometimes feels like the central reason why sports exist.” Worth a read!
For all the Lebowski heads out there, like me:
October 18, 2025 at 7:55 PM
For all the Lebowski heads out there, like me:
Tribute to Toni Cade Bambara, Trastevere, Rome
September 30, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Tribute to Toni Cade Bambara, Trastevere, Rome
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
used to be you could get an indictment against a ham sandwich. now you can't even indict a guy who throws a ham sandwich. folks, www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...
Prosecutors Fail to Secure Indictment Against Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent
www.nytimes.com
August 27, 2025 at 1:03 PM
used to be you could get an indictment against a ham sandwich. now you can't even indict a guy who throws a ham sandwich. folks, www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
It’s a mystery why we still ask whether we’re alone in the universe, isn’t it, when you consider that this question was definitively answered by the New York Sun exactly 190 years ago? For this was the day we learned there were man-bats and bipedal beavers living on the moon
August 21, 2025 at 9:40 AM
It’s a mystery why we still ask whether we’re alone in the universe, isn’t it, when you consider that this question was definitively answered by the New York Sun exactly 190 years ago? For this was the day we learned there were man-bats and bipedal beavers living on the moon
Love the subtle “Big Lebowski” reference by @kenjennings.bsky.social on Jeopardy tonight! Not into the whole brevity thing, indeed.
August 20, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Love the subtle “Big Lebowski” reference by @kenjennings.bsky.social on Jeopardy tonight! Not into the whole brevity thing, indeed.
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
Assault with a deli weapon.
August 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Assault with a deli weapon.
Brattleboro, Vermont
August 8, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Brattleboro, Vermont
“Nobody’s seen anything like it — even though they’ve done it twice before”
Trump say the FBI “may have to” arrest Texas Democrats who broke quorum
August 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
“Nobody’s seen anything like it — even though they’ve done it twice before”
A “Palestine exception” to free speech means that there is no free speech
Exclusive: Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication.
My latest.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
My latest.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Revealed: Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication
As Harvard’s feud with Trump escalated, so did tensions over an ‘education and Palestine’ issue of a prestigious journal. Scholars blame the ‘Palestine exception’ to academic freedom
www.theguardian.com
July 22, 2025 at 1:37 PM
A “Palestine exception” to free speech means that there is no free speech
I’m thrilled to announce that my book PARIS UNDERCOVER has been selected for the long list for the 2025 American Library in Paris Book Award. It’s an honor to be included in this wonderful lineup of books and authors!
July 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I’m thrilled to announce that my book PARIS UNDERCOVER has been selected for the long list for the 2025 American Library in Paris Book Award. It’s an honor to be included in this wonderful lineup of books and authors!
RIP Dave (“The Cobra”) Parker, right fielder non pareil and the baddest mf ever to play the game
June 28, 2025 at 11:32 PM
RIP Dave (“The Cobra”) Parker, right fielder non pareil and the baddest mf ever to play the game
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
I get how New Yorkers talking about the city all the time is annoying, but I gotta say that non-New Yorkers talking about the city is way more annoying
June 28, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I get how New Yorkers talking about the city all the time is annoying, but I gotta say that non-New Yorkers talking about the city is way more annoying
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
Cuomo and his supporters ran one of the most genuinely racist anti-Muslim campaigns I’ve ever seen, and no one in the Democratic establishment says a word. From now on I think all politicians need to “prove” that they aren’t anti-Muslim. How come we never get that litmus test?
June 25, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Cuomo and his supporters ran one of the most genuinely racist anti-Muslim campaigns I’ve ever seen, and no one in the Democratic establishment says a word. From now on I think all politicians need to “prove” that they aren’t anti-Muslim. How come we never get that litmus test?
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
i think cuomo did well considering he couldn’t campaign while the sun was up
June 25, 2025 at 2:14 AM
i think cuomo did well considering he couldn’t campaign while the sun was up
Founded in 1938, CYCO is a legendary institution in the Yiddish world, an invaluable storehouse of Yiddish culture and history. This is Zohran Mamdani’s 2022 tweet asking folks to help support it.
But sure, he’s an “anti-Semite”
But sure, he’s an “anti-Semite”
Zohran Kwame Mamdani on X: "CYCO Books is an institution that we must save. Founded in 1938, the Central Yiddish Cultural Organization is singular in the the knowledge it imparts, the history it belongs to, and NYC would be all the poorer without it. Let’s keep it alive: https://t.co/f9gxIK7XLl" / X
CYCO Books is an institution that we must save. Founded in 1938, the Central Yiddish Cultural Organization is singular in the the knowledge it imparts, the history it belongs to, and NYC would be all the poorer without it. Let’s keep it alive: https://t.co/f9gxIK7XLl
x.com
June 24, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Founded in 1938, CYCO is a legendary institution in the Yiddish world, an invaluable storehouse of Yiddish culture and history. This is Zohran Mamdani’s 2022 tweet asking folks to help support it.
But sure, he’s an “anti-Semite”
But sure, he’s an “anti-Semite”
The National Archives research facility in College Park, MD, is a national treasure, offering interested members of the general public an unparalleled direct look at the workings of the federal government.
This decision is deeply anti-democratic and anti-intellectual — in a word, fascistic.
This decision is deeply anti-democratic and anti-intellectual — in a word, fascistic.
June 24, 2025 at 9:43 PM
The National Archives research facility in College Park, MD, is a national treasure, offering interested members of the general public an unparalleled direct look at the workings of the federal government.
This decision is deeply anti-democratic and anti-intellectual — in a word, fascistic.
This decision is deeply anti-democratic and anti-intellectual — in a word, fascistic.
Welcome to America circa 2025: two members of the US House of Representatives being denied their constitutional rights by a smirking guy in a Froot Loops shirt
In a lengthy exchange, with ICE Deputy Field Director Bill Joyce, Reps Nadler and Goldman are denied the ability to visit the 10th floor. Joyce says it's not a detention facility it's just a place ppl are housed for several days w/out beds.
June 18, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Welcome to America circa 2025: two members of the US House of Representatives being denied their constitutional rights by a smirking guy in a Froot Loops shirt
What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?
Nonfiction authors, not their publishers, have to pay for the rights to the photographs and other graphics contained in their books, as well as for the indexing.
Nonfiction authors, not their publishers, have to pay for the rights to the photographs and other graphics contained in their books, as well as for the indexing.
What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?
The average author income is about seven grand a year.
The average author income is about seven grand a year.
What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?
It is good and proper in a well-kept library to dispose of books.
It is good and proper in a well-kept library to dispose of books.
June 18, 2025 at 12:00 AM
What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders?
Nonfiction authors, not their publishers, have to pay for the rights to the photographs and other graphics contained in their books, as well as for the indexing.
Nonfiction authors, not their publishers, have to pay for the rights to the photographs and other graphics contained in their books, as well as for the indexing.
Reposted by Matthew Goodman
“We’re going to need a bigger The Hague”
June 14, 2025 at 7:20 PM
“We’re going to need a bigger The Hague”
Surely the greatest “fuck you” letter in the history of American publishing, written by 79-year-old author Norman Maclean to an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, which had rejected his first book, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT.
June 11, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Surely the greatest “fuck you” letter in the history of American publishing, written by 79-year-old author Norman Maclean to an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, which had rejected his first book, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT.