Our Man In Havana (Vintage Classics) and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime free trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn more
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Our Man in Havana (Vintage Classics)
 
 
Start reading Our Man In Havana (Vintage Classics) on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Our Man in Havana (Vintage Classics) [Paperback]

Graham Greene
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £6.38 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.61 (29%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Want guaranteed delivery by Saturday, February 11? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details.

Frequently Bought Together

Our Man in Havana (Vintage Classics) + Brighton Rock + The End Of The Affair (Vintage Classics)
Price For All Three: £17.73

Show availability and delivery details

Buy the selected items together
  • In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Brighton Rock £5.76

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • The End Of The Affair (Vintage Classics) £5.59

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Classics; New Ed edition (1 Mar 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099286084
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099286080
  • Product Dimensions: 13 x 1.3 x 19.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 6,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Graham Greene
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Visit Amazon's Graham Greene Page

Product Description

Review

'As comical, satirical, atmospherical an"entertainment" as he has given us' - Daily Telegraph. 'No serious writer of this century has more thoroughly invaded and shaped the public imagination than did Graham Greene' - Time. 'He had a sharp nose for trouble and injustice. In Our Man In Havana - a witty send-up of an agent's life - it was Cuba before Castro' - Financial Times.

Book Description

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(8)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


 

Customer Reviews

33 Reviews
5 star:
 (19)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (33 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Greene's most hilarious and most mordant entertainment., 19 Jan 2005
By 
Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   
Gleefully combining the raucous humor of absurdity with slyly subtle wordplay and caustic satire, Greene entertains on every level, skewering British intelligence-gathering services during the Cold War. Setting the novel in the flamboyant atmosphere of pre-revolutionary Havana, where virtually anything can be had at a price, Greene establishes his contrasts and ironies early, creating a hilarious set piece which satirizes both the British government's never-satisfied desire for secrets about foreign political movements and their belief that the most banal of activities constitute threats to national security.

Ex-patriot James Wormold is a mild-mannered, marginal businessman and vacuum cleaner salesman, whose spoiled teenage daughter sees herself as part of the equestrian and country club set. Approached by MI6 in a public restroom, Wormold finds himself unwillingly recruited to be "our man in Havana," a role which will reward him handsomely for information and allow him some much-needed financial breathing room.

Encouraged to recruit other agents to provide more information (and earn even more money), he chooses names at random from the country club membership list and fabricates personas for them, featuring them in fictionalized little dramas which he churns out and forwards to his "handlers." Always careful to fulfill their expectations exactly, Wormold becomes a more and more important "spy," his stories become more creative, his "enemies" find him and his "agents" to be dangerous, and his friends and the real people whose names were used as fictional agents begin to turn up dead.

Skewering British intelligence for being such willing dupes of a vacuum cleaner salesman who never wanted to be an agent in the first place, Greene betrays both his familiarity with the inner workings of the intelligence service, of which he was once a member, and his rejection of Cold War politics. In a conclusion which will satisfy everyone who has ever become impatient with political maneuvering, Greene carries the absurdities of power to their limits, orchestrating a grand finale which shows British politicians at their most venal--and most ridiculous. Ascerbic in its humor and delightfully refreshing in its choice of "hero," this novel is Greene at his very best. Mary Whipple

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely superb, 9 Feb 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Our Man in Havana (Vintage Classics) (Paperback)
A marvellous story about a vacuum cleaner salesman caught up in the world of espionage, purely to buy his daughter a pony for her birthday. The characters are so real that you feel that you know them personally, and the style of writing employed by Graham Greene is an example of what can be done with the English language in the hands of a truly great writer. The chapter in which the British secret service peruse the sketches sent from Havana by Wormold is one of the funniest I have ever read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Blows all current writing out of the water, 21 Sep 2001
This review is from: Our Man in Havana (Vintage Classics) (Paperback)
Greene is warm, honest, genuine and a pleasure to read. His books lack the superficiality, clumsy effort or eagerness to please of so many current best-sellers. Timeless, human and well able to stand the test of time. The characters are believable and exude a real warmth despite, or maybe because of, their complexities. The books enable you to float through the pages as effortlessly as breathing. I'm a recent convert to Greene as a result of the recent repackaging/relaunch via Amazon. There's no turning back. Read and enjoy and keep on going through the whole collection. I certainly will!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
 Go to Amazon.com to see all 85 reviews  4.4 out of 5 stars 
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges