arndt@lymph.DEC (08/07/85)
I have in my collection a few off beat spy stories and I wonder if anyone
else has read them or knows of any others.
CITY OF WHISPERING STONE, by George C. Chesbro (Signet '78)
The hero is a dwarf, Mongo the Magnificent, with a degree in
criminal science and a teaching position at a college who has risen above
his roots in the circus where for him "the price of being taken seriously
was a good performance."
THE MAN FROM PANSY, by Don Rico (Lancer '67)
The hero is a overcover Gay agent for the US government Buzz Cardigan.Superspy, tough, brainy and hip. High humor.
THE MONTE CRISTO COVER-UP (also as IT CAN'T ALWAYS BE CAVIAR) told by
Johannes Mario Simmel, trans. for German by James Cleugh (Popular Lib '77)
A banker swept into service by France, Germany, Britain, the US
and several others in WWII against his will. The book is set around several
exquisite cooking recipes of meals the hero serves at key points in the
story.
Regards,
Ken Arndtdjw@lanl.ARPA (08/07/85)
> > I have in my collection a few off beat spy stories and I wonder if anyone > else has read them or knows of any others. > > Ken Arndt I haven't read any of those, but have you read any of the Boisie Oaks books by John Gardner? ( Gardner is the author of the three new James Bond books. ) Boisie somehow stumbled into the assasin business and since he doesn't like violence, hires an old friend ( a hood ) to "do the deed". You certainly can see why John Gardner was chosen to continue the James Bond line. I also recommend a small series by William F. Buckley Jr.. Buckley's hero is Blackford Oaks ( coincidence or my poor memory, but then how should I know? ). You'll enjoy these as well. Dave
colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (08/08/85)
Don't forget Graham Greene's _Our Man in Havana!_ (Or anything else by Greene.) --- Captain Buffalo: "You see, Tommy ... When a freak laboratory accident made Mudman what he is, something happened to his mind as well." Tommy Thrush: "You mean, it turned into mud!" Captain Buffalo: "In technical language, that's correct."
nrh@faust.UUCP (08/09/85)
And don't forget "The Game of X" by Robert Sheckley. The hero is a person set up (falsely) as a sort of super-agent by the Good Guys. Unfortunately, he's called upon to perform as if he had the (ever increasing) array of talents in his faked dossier.
boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (08/09/85)
> From: dec-lymph!arndt (Ken Arndt) > I have in my collection a few off beat spy stories and I wonder if anyone > else has read them or knows of any others. > CITY OF WHISPERING STONE, by George C. Chesbro (Signet '78) > The hero is a dwarf, Mongo the Magnificent, with a degree in > criminal science and a teaching position at a college who has risen above > his roots in the circus where for him "the price of being taken seriously > was a good performance." CITY OF WHISPERING STONE is the second of four Mongo novels, and the only one which doesn't cross the line into sf/fantasy. The other three are: SHADOW OF A BROKEN MAN, AN AFFAIR OF SORCERORS, and THE BEASTS OF VALHALLA. The first two of those three are in paperback; the last just came out in hardcover. There were also a number of Mongo short stories in the mystery magazines, but unfortunately they have as yet not been collected into a book. As for other rather off-center spy novels, there were quite a few somewhat risque (for their time --- these days, they're quite tame) Man from U.N.C.L.E. take-offs: The Man from S.T.U.D., The Man from T.O.M.C.A.T., The Lady from L.U.S.T., and so on. The only ones that really had any style were the various series by Ted Mark (real name: Ted Gottfried), especially The Man from O.R.G.Y. And there's also the Destroyer series by Richard Sapir and/or Warren Murphy. Trash, to be sure, but some of the most entertaining trash ever written. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
djl@ptsfb.UUCP (Dave Lampe) (08/10/85)
I have several "Strange/Funny" spy stories to recommend, unfortunatly
none of them are new and I would be surprised if any were in print now.
"The Game of X" by Robert Sheckley, delacort press, 1965.
Subtitled "a novel of upmanship espionage"
Have you ever wondered how a spy becomes a spy?
The answer, William Nye discovered, was suspiciously
easy. One was invited into the business by a friend -
no tests of super-human fortitude, no karate lessons,
in fact no questions at all.
All Nye had to do was follow instructions and nothing
would go wrong. Nothing did. Instead he found himself
top man in the spy racket."
"Matzohball" and "Loxfinger" both by Sol Weinstein, Pocket Books, 1966.
Staring Isreal Bond, agent Oy-Oy-7
Yes, you guessed exactly what they are like, but they
they are funny if you like Yiddish humor.
"The Terrible Game" by Dan Tyler Moore, Signet, 1957.
This book was written dyring the cold war when Russia
was evil, and the U.S. military was the savior of the
free world. There is an independant country in the mountains
somewhere in Asia which would be the perfect site for
Atomic cannon to menace the trans-Siberian railroad,
The reason they have remained independant since the time
of Alexander the Great is because noone is alowed in unless
he can win the game of Ott. Ott combines archery, horsemanship,
wrestling and swordsmanship.
Dave Lampe @ Pacific Bell
{ucbvax,amd,zehntel,ihnp4,cbosgd}!dual!ptsfa!ptsfb!djl
(415) 823-2408rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist) (08/12/85)
>As for other rather off-center spy novels, there were quite a few somewhat >risque (for their time --- these days, they're quite tame) Man from U.N.C.L.E. >take-offs: The Man from S.T.U.D., The Man from T.O.M.C.A.T., The Lady from >L.U.S.T., and so on. The only ones that really had any style were the various >series by Ted Mark (real name: Ted Gottfried), especially The Man from O.R.G.Y. I was visiting my hometown this weekend, & went to a used bookshop. Not the college-town type of used store: textbooks on at most one shelf and AISLES and AISLES of nurse/gothic/westerns. And there I found it: "I Was A Teeny-Bopper for the CIA", by Ted Mark. I spent the trip back regretting not buying it. Not that I thought that it would be any good...but I'd love to have it in my "pure tripe for now people" collection, right nxt to my copies of "Operation: Super Ms." and "The Psychedelic Spy" (by Andy Offutt and T.A. Waters, respectively). -- "I utterly disagree with what you are saying, but if you keep on saying it, I will get violent." -- Voltaire's brother-in-law Rick Keir -- MicroComputer Information Center, MACC 1210 West Dayton St/U Wisconsin Madison/Mad WI 53706 {allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rick
dmm@calmasd.UUCP (David M. MacMillan) (08/12/85)
There is a good movie of "Our Man in Havana" (with, I belive,
Noel Coward) floating about somewhere.
David M. MacMillanayers@convexs.UUCP (08/14/85)
/* Written 2:28 pm Aug 7, 1985 by djw@lanl.ARPA in convexs:net.books */
I haven't read any of those, but have you read any of the Boisie Oaks books
by John Gardner? ( Gardner is the author of the three new James Bond books. )
Boisie somehow stumbled into the assasin business and since he doesn't like
violence, hires an old friend ( a hood ) to "do the deed".
/* End of text from convexs:net.books */
Hmmm, nice original touch -- I wonder which came first, these books or
the late 60's Rod Taylor spy spoof ("The Terminator" ???) with exactly the
same plot line????
blues, II
(the opinions expressed here are those of my great-uncle Julius...)gkloker@utai.UUCP (Geoff Loker) (08/19/85)
In article <3493@decwrl.UUCP> arndt@lymph.DEC writes: > > >I have in my collection a few off beat spy stories and I wonder if anyone >else has read them or knows of any others. > My personal favourite for off-beat spy stories is the series of five (that I know of) "Get Smart" books by William Johnston. The five are: Get Smart! Get Smart Once Again! Sorry, Chief... Max Smart and the Perilous Pellets & Missed It By That Much! In case you haven't guessed, these books are based on the television series, "Get Smart", and follow the adventures of that intrepid(?) spy for CONTROL, Maxwell Smart, agent 86. Of course, the Chief appears, as do agent K-13 (Fang), and agent 99 (99). The spirit of the show is captured quite well in the books, with Max stumbling his way towards saving the entire free world from the Bad Guys. All in all, they make for a good, fun read. -- Geoff Loker Department of Computer Science University of Toronto Toronto, ON M5S 1A4 USENET: {ihnp4 decwrl utzoo uw-beaver}!utcsri!utai!gkloker CSNET: gkloker@toronto ARPANET: gkloker.toronto@csnet-relay
wjr@x.UUCP (Bill Richard) (08/28/85)
In article <531@calmasd.UUCP> dmm@calmasd.UUCP (David M. MacMillan) writes: > > There is a good movie of "Our Man in Havana" (with, I belive, >Noel Coward) floating about somewhere. > Yes, great movie, but I believe it starred Alec Guiness not Noel Coward.
saltiel@cdstar.UUCP (Jack Saltiel) (08/29/85)
In article <550@x.UUCP>, wjr@x.UUCP (Bill Richard) writes: > In article <531@calmasd.UUCP> dmm@calmasd.UUCP (David M. MacMillan) writes: > > > > There is a good movie of "Our Man in Havana" (with, I belive, > >Noel Coward) floating about somewhere. > > > Yes, great movie, but I believe it starred Alec Guiness not Noel Coward. It starred Alec Guinness and Noel Coward. It also included Ernie Kovacs (sp?). -- Jack Saltiel Cambridge Digital Systems {wjh12,talcott}!cdstar!saltiel "Here's to plain speaking and clear understanding." "I like a man who likes to talk."