By George Smiley, as told to Chat GPT As a former spy, I know all too well the toll that stress and danger can take on one's health. In my line of work, I've had to deal with everything from betrayals and infidelities to high-stakes espionage and assassination attempts. But through it all, I've managed …
Category: George Smiley
John le Carré passes away at age 89
This is a hard one. In a year that has seen many, many losses, for lovers of literature, the loss of David Cornwell aka John le Carré is a difficult one to handle. Jonny Geller, his agent and friend, posted this note as well as a note from le Carré's family. https://twitter.com/JonnyGeller/status/1338239733638508547 On a personal …
Secret Lip Services – The honor John le Carré doesn’t want you to know about
Rarely am I shocked while reading a book, but this was the exception. As I perused my latest purchase, a binded transcript of a speech John le Carré gave at John Hopkins University in 1986 titled The Clandestine Muse, I had a shocking revelation. John le Carré had won Blistex lip balm’s 1985 “Most Beautiful …
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Sarrett Circus Commencement Address
I'm always on the hunt for new bits of history or trivia about the Circus. I've made a new find and I think you'll find it to be quite the treat. I was digging through some archives at the library and found one of Control's commencement addresses to the graduates of the Sarrett training camp. …
A le Carré sneak peek?
I debated putting this out there, but decided that today is the day and not to wait. I received a huge surprise in the mail over the weekend. A package sent from Cornwall arrived on my doorstep. I've been eagerly awaiting the October release of Agent Running in the Field and in early April what …
The Spy Who – Rarities – Part 4.5
It's been over two years but I've laid hands on yet another abridged version of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. We've seen two previous abridged versions, one in a magazine called True and the next in Reader's Digest. Over three issues of Show - The Magazine of the Arts, October through December …
The Spy Who – The Art – Part 4
It's been over two years but I've laid hands on yet another abridged version of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. We've seen two previous abridged versions, one in a magazine called True and the next in Reader's Digest. My latest find ran in a magazine called Show - The Magazine …
Tinker Tailor Soldier Doll
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Matryoshka Dolls
Collecting A Legacy of Spies
The biggest story of last year was the announcement that John le Carré had written a new Smiley novel. Fans of le Carré's all over the world were shocked. Le Carré had seemed to put a button on Smiley with The Secret Pilgrim so every fan is excited about the new novel. As a collector, …
The Spybrary podcast
One of the best things over the past few years has been the appearance of the Spybrary podcast. Spybrary is run by Shane Whaley, an avid spy fan who wanted to create something that gave people a place to learn more about spy fiction and create a community of spy fans. The podcast has consisted …
Interview with Toby Manning on John le Carré and the Cold War – Part Two
We conclude our interview with Toby Manning on his book John le Carré and the Cold War. Find part one here. When you’re done reading my interview listen to the Spybrary podcast interview with Toby Manning. Spy Write: It seems that le Carré's post-Cold War work may have been what muddied the waters regarding the “otherness” …
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Best of 2017
Last year I put together a short list of some of my favorite things from the past year. I’ve done it again and here they are in no particular order - A Divided Spy by Charles Cumming - This one is a little selfish. I won a auction to have my name appear in the …
Which Literary Spy are you?
It's the ultimate question for any spy fan. If you were a spy which kind of spy would you be? I've seen a bunch of quizzes for the movies but I thought I'd throw together this one for all the book spy fans. Are you a Smiley, Lemas, Bond or someone else? Give it a …
A fictional spy walk in London
Following up on my previous post about locations in London made famous by John le Carré as haunts of George Smiley, I'm posting some other spots where fictional spies hung out. You can find all of these and more on my fictional spies Google map. Update: Author Mick Herron has confirmed via email that this …
Le Carré, Revisited
In honor of publication week for A Legacy of Spies I've collected a "best of" list of some of my le Carré posts. I also recommend reading Matthew Bradford's great series of posts looking back at the Smiley series book by book. First, here's my spoiler free review of the new book, A Legacy of …
Non spoiler review: A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré
Wow. After over twenty five years we have a new Smiley book. Something I never thought I'd see happen, has happened. Was it worth going back to the well? I think so. Before we get too far, it's best to set expectations. In truth, A Legacy of Spies is about Peter Guillam, not Smiley. It’s …
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Mr. Smiley’s Neighborhood
Many a tour guide has made a significant amount of money holding Sherlock Holmes or Dickens character tours in London looking at the real locations of their fictional counterparts. Some would consider this foolish. Why look at place that these characters never walked? They weren't real people after all. That's true, but visiting these places …