The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life

Now in his mid-80s, le Carré has been a best-selling spy novelist for more than half a century, beginning with the 1963 publication of the classic The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Looking back on a life rich enough to spawn multiple globe-spanning novels (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; The Constant Gardener, etc.), le Carré showcases his grand, cinematic sense of place and, over the book's 38 pieces—many of them sharp-eyed vignettes, others fully formed memories (including a long remembrance of a rocky relationship with his father, Ronnie)—the ineffable quality that defines a professional raconteur. It doesn't hurt that le Carré's reminiscences include a host of political leaders, writers and artists, and movers-and-shakers: Graham Greene, Margaret Thatcher, Alec Guinness, Yasser Arafat, Rupert Murdoch, and Francis Ford Coppola among them, as well as many whose identities remain hidden in the shadows. The inviting, drinks-beside-the-fire style from a master of the craft never overtakes the details of le Carré's remarkable life or his strong insider's opinions on issues of geopolitical import since World War II.