I’ve been a fan of Westlake’s work for many years, but still haven’t caught up to past books. It’s an ongoing process as I come across them now and then, get a hint from some blog post, and such. I GAVE AT THE OFFICE was published in 1971 and has his trademark humor.
But it was a harder read than anything else I’ve read by him. The format is that of a newsman, Jay Fisher, recording a series of tapes telling his side of the mess that became the Ilha Pombo Affair. Sent to cover the invasion of the Caribbean island, things don’t go quite as well as planned. It was Fisher who had brought the idea to the Network(he never speaks of his bosses in any other word and he uses it quite frequently), brought to him by a couple of other fellows. He’s quickly put into a subordinate position and left out of the loop as such.
Fisher had thought it was his ticket up. Mostly he was stand-in interviewer for the Big Name. He’d meet the subject for lunch, armed with prepared questions, taping the whole interview, then the Big Name’s same questions would be inserted into the tape for broadcast over radio.
The Ilha Pombo Affair was supposed to be a U.S. financed insurgency to overthrow a dictatorship. It turned out to be a fizzle and the Network decides to “help” out a bit. I believe a similar plot was used in the film WAG THE DOG though I’ve never seen that one.
I enjoyed this one, though, as mentioned, it was harder to read than other Westlakes.
For more Forgotten books, check out PATTI Abbott\'s blog, PATTINASE.
I, too, have a lot of Westlake to catch up on. Never even heard of this one before!
That cover freaks me out a bit.
I’ve tried a couple of Westlake books, and they have all been hard reads, so much so that I didn’t finish any of them. The sense of humor so loved by most readers just goes right over – or under – my head, and I decided not to try any more. Your review of this one doesn’t make me want to change my mind.
I wouldn’t recommend this one to anybody that hadn’t read Westlake, Richard. But you need to try some of the Parker titles he wrote under the name Richard Stark. Zero humor. In fact, Parker is rather humorless and grim on a job. Those you might like. THE HUNTER is the first in the series.
What a versatile writer he is.
Westlake could take any situation and write a humorous novel about it. I’m fond of JIMMY THE KID which was written three years after I GAVE AT THE OFFICE.
Yes, I liked Jimmy The Kid also. I think Westlake was incapable of writing a bad book.
I believe Jay Fisher makes a cameo as a newscaster in Dancing Aztecs . . . a novel that’s a real fun comic romp, BTW!