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“A master craftsman at refashioning reproductive biology intoprovocative composition, Bering nimbly probes ‘the darkestcorners of our sexual nature’ with no illicit aftertaste.”from pervSPYMASTERThe Astounding Cold WarConfessions of a SovietKGB OfficerBagley, Tennant H.Skyhorse Publishing (320 pp.)$26.95 | Nov. 1, 2013978-1-62636-065-5A retired spy-service veteran reflectson the life of an espionage specialist.In the Cold War era of the 1960s,Bagley was a CIA counterintelligence chief and the first tohave interrogation privileges with renowned Ukrainian KGBdefector Yuri Nosenko. This book is a suitable follow-up tohis revealing memoir about his work as chief handler on thatcase (Spy Wars, 2007); here, he focuses on senior KGB Sovietspymaster Sergey Kondrashev. Bagley befriended his formeradversary after numerous informal chats at Cold War reunionfunctions, ushering in years of unencumbered “affinity, cordiality,mutual respect and growing confidence between twoold professionals.” In 1999, five years into their ripeningfriendship, Kondrashev decided to pen an autobiography.Bagley ably assisted, reveling in the informational “stroke offortune” from this expert insider. Nearly a decade into theproject, Russian foreign intelligence apparatchiks learned ofthe sensitive project and swiftly embargoed its Russian publication.Bagley skillfully condenses the bulk of Kondrashev’sinterviews and stories, chronicling his brisk, incremental risethrough the ranks of the Soviet spy system with unexaggeratedbrio. The author portrays in riveting detail the spy’sconsiderable ascent from managing successful counterintelligencedecoding operations to dexterously handling traitoroushigh-level moles like double agent George Blake. Equallyfascinating are sections detailing Stalin’s nightmarish postwarpersonnel purges, Kondrashev’s involvement in the finalarrangements for Hitler’s and his wife’s remains, and anoperation during which subversive KGB operatives posed asdefectors, a scheme that, at one time, involved both men asrivals. Kondrashev died in 2007, and with his family’s blessing,Bagley grasps the unique opportunity to not only spillclassified spy secrets and disinformation schemes, but alsoto posthumously venerate a world-class spymaster.A respectful, introspective exposé of a great emissarywho became a friend. (33 b/w photos. The publisher of this title isat booth 1920.)PERVThe Sexual Deviant in Allof UsBering, JesseScientific American/Farrar, Straus andGiroux (272 pp.)$26.00 | Oct. 8, 2013978-0-374-23089-0Outspokenly attesting that everyone’sa pervert in some form or another,research psychologist Bering (Why Is thePenis Shaped Like That?: And Other Reflections On Being Human,2012) combines science, research and an unblushing curiosity toplumb the depths of sexual deviancy.The author prefaces the narrative with his own story ofcoming out as gay to his mother at 19—just an average boy“who blended into tree bark and lawn ornaments.” Throughout,he appeals for further societal acceptance toward notonly the homosexual community, but the socially ostracized“erotic outliers” as well. Addressing everyone, from the primto the experienced, Bering encourages readers to embracethe willful “unburdening of your erotic conscience” throughthe examination of a smorgasbord of erotic paraphilias,including common fetishes like toes and tickling and unorthodoxfascinations with animals, amputees, insect bites andsandy gravel—the author claims that there are more than500 varieties of paraphilia. In this meticulously researchedand referenced text, Bering offers fascinating case studiesinvolving the power of sexual arousal to neutralize repulsivesmells, tastes and predisposed opinions, though chapterson the historical demonization of human arousal, S&Mand pedophilia do require an open mind. Refreshingly, theauthor extends his scope beyond the standard criterion ofnotorious fetishistic peccadilloes to more taboo sexual preferencesthat will, to some, skirt the boundaries of good taste(and common law). Anticipating this reaction, he creativelyadvocates for the understanding, appreciation and acknowledgmentof these unique leanings in some of us, though notnecessarily for their pardon.A master craftsman at refashioning reproductive biologyinto provocative composition, Bering nimbly probes“the darkest corners of our sexual nature” with no illicitaftertaste. (The publisher of this title is at booth 1557.) [Firstreviewed in the 05/01/13 issue]22 | bea special supplement | nonfiction | kirkus.com |