The Tailor of Panama - Softcover

Le Carre, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340684798 ISBN 13: 9780340684795

Publisher: Penguin Books Canada, Limited, 2001

Synopsis

Andrew Osnard is an Old Etonian and spy. His secret mission in Panama is two-pronged: to keep an eye on the political manoeuvrings leading up to the American handover of the Panama Canal on 31st December 1999, and to secure for himself the immense private fortune that has thus far eluded him.

About this title

Review:

John le Carré, the greatest spy novelist of the Cold War era, continues his post-Cold War quest to define the genre he helped perfect. The classic spy novel was essentially a story of good (England, the United States) vs. evil (Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union), in which good more or less prevailed. The Tailor of Panama is something else entirely: a spy novel with no spies in which the bad guys reap most of the rewards. It is also a viciously funny satire. The novel is set in Panama, where a plot is in place to make void the Panama Treaty, which would return control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanians in 1999. At the center of events is Harry Pendel, the tailor of the title. Coerced into working for British Intelligence, he concocts out of whole cloth a left-wing movement with the goal of luring the American military to do the dirty work--invade Panama à la 1989 and nullify the treaty. From the characters to the setting, le Carré has succeeded in setting new parameters for an old genre.

From the Publisher:

10 1.5-hour cassettes

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books Canada, Limited
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0340684798
• ISBN 13: 9780340684795
• Binding: Paperback