Marvelous fiction. An Englishman, selling vacuum cleaners in Havana, becomes a "spy" in order to make a little extra cash for his high-rent daughter's upkeep. He invents sub-agents, but those spying on the spy don't realize this. The sub-agents come to life . . . and death . . . and the breezy comedy turns serious.
Marred by an epilogue that is preachy in a way the book is not. ( )

When I was in high school if I finished my homework late at night I sometimes would watch the late night movie on the channel that showed the oldies. One movie that always stayed in my mind as a favorite was Our Man in Havana with Alec Guinness and Burl Ives. I didn’t really remember the plot, just that it was funny and in some ways bizarre. When I saw the book last February at our annual used book sale I knew I would enjoy reading it and I was right. The story is about an English single father with a teenage daughter living in Cuba in the late 1950s, shortly before Castro takes over. He owns an unsuccessful vacuum cleaner sales store and is concerned about making ends meet and being able to give his daughter an education. He is approached by another Englishman and reluctantly lets himself get talked into becoming a very reluctant spy. What follows is a satiric dark comedy that is wonderfully humorous but leaves you with something to think about. Highly recommended ( )

Take James Bond and mix him with Inspector Clouseau (shaken, not stirred) and you'll have a pretty close estimation of protagonist Jim Wormold. In fact, you'll have a close approximation of the story's feel as well. It takes the danger, some violence and the wit of James Bond and mixes in some lighter almost slapstick humor a la Inspector Clouseau.

This was the first book I've read by Greene and if this is any indication of how enjoyable the rest of his work is, it won't be the last. ( )

Very funny and well written book. The easy wit of Greene's Wormold reminded me a lot of Christopher Moore's protagonist from "Dirty Job" - or perhaps I should say that Moore reminds me of Greene. In any case, I enjoyed both the humor of Greene's dialogue and the absurdity of the plot while not missing the attention spent on the vibrancy of the Cuban backdrop. ( )

I never looked at my vacuum cleaner in quite the same way again. The funniest Graham Greene book I had ever read. ( )