“Homework,” Geoff Dyer’s memoir of his childhood in Cheltenham, England, benefits from the author’s sharp prose and sharp memory. Mr. Dyer, the author of “Out of Sheer Rage” (1997) and “The Last Days ...

At nearly three hours, and with a deliberate pace that makes you feel most of those minutes, The Secret Agent isn’t a breezy watch. It is a dense cinematic tome, offering universal observations about ...