In pre-Castro Cuba, James Wormold's wife has left him for another man, leaving him alone with his teenage daughter Milly. Wormold's career as a vacuum cleaner salesman doesn't net enough to pay for Milly's champagne tastes, so when an acquaintance offers him work with the British secret service, he readily accepts. Unfortunately, Wormold has no information to relay to the home office, but he's not about to let a small matter like that keep him from the gravy train. Undaunted, he creates a vast network of agents, eventually ...
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In pre-Castro Cuba, James Wormold's wife has left him for another man, leaving him alone with his teenage daughter Milly. Wormold's career as a vacuum cleaner salesman doesn't net enough to pay for Milly's champagne tastes, so when an acquaintance offers him work with the British secret service, he readily accepts. Unfortunately, Wormold has no information to relay to the home office, but he's not about to let a small matter like that keep him from the gravy train. Undaunted, he creates a vast network of agents, eventually passing off a sketch of a vacuum cleaner's circuit diagram as a secret military installation. This marvelous coup marks Wormold as a rising star and lands him his very own private secretary. But when people around him start dropping like flies, Wormold realizes that someone is taking his little game very, very seriously...This sparkling spoof is one of Greene's funniest and most accessible novels.
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One of his best books. They also made a movie of it which was an excellent adaptation. There is only one problem: Graham Greene was strongly anti-American to the end of his days. He thought we were a bunch of ignorant yahoos and made it plain in his writing. If that bothers you, don't buy any of his books. I solved the problem by always buying used copies so he received no royalties.
Greene was mostly poking fun at the British Secret Service. As one of their own they took it. The book is well written, fast moving, and interesting.
livres
Mar 4, 2010
A great read!
Humor, suspense, and insight into the human condition. Greene's writing is always a pleasure.
Joe1945
Mar 5, 2009
I read this book years ago, and I enjoyed the reading of it again. Sometimes I think there is a bit of truth in the fiction and I see it in some of the things our government does today.
