Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84 chuqui version 1.7 9/23/84; site nsc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!nsc!chuqui From: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) Newsgroups: net.books Subject: The funniest book of the year Message-ID: <2525@nsc.UUCP> Date: Thu, 28-Mar-85 00:44:03 EST Article-I.D.: nsc.2525 Posted: Thu Mar 28 00:44:03 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 29-Mar-85 00:25:35 EST Distribution: net Organization: The Village Lines: 35 I have mentioned the work of Lawrence Block a couple of times before, but I've just finished the third book in his Evan Tanner series (The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep, The Cancelled Czech are the first two) and I found it to be simply the funniest book I've read in a long time. For those that aren't familiar with Tanner, he is a person who, during the Korean War, was injured in the brain, having his sleep center destroyed. Since then, he hasn't slept, and has used the time to join every half baked group in the world (from the Flat Earth Society to the Free Latvian Front) and has also spent a lot of time picking up random languages (from Latvian and Russian to Sanskrit). This is a spy story of epic proportions. Tanner is, mainly, a freelancer that does things because they interest him. In this book, a friend talks him into sneaking into Russia to sneak out his lady love, who is in internal exile. On the way, he picks up a revolutionary manuscripts (and author) in yugoslavia, microfilm from a revolutionary group in Hungary, the six year old true heiress to the lituanian throne. Needless to say, he gets all of those into Russia somehow, only to find out that the lady love has 11 friends (hence the name of the book). Before he gets them all home, it gets even more outrageous. If you like the gritty details of LeCarre or Greene and the flippance of a good James Bond movie, you'll LOVE this book. This is a satire of spy stories, and a satire of epic proportions. It is SO silly it ends up sounding reasonable, and you'll guffaw your way through. This book (and the whole series, actually) is worth tracking down... chuq -- Chuq Von Rospach, National Semiconductor {cbosgd,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA Be seeing you!