Goodbye Mickey Mouse

In general, I hold Len Deighton in very, very high regard. This book has been a part of that evaluation. I read it as part of a group including also Bomber and City of Gold. All three of these seem to me to be expositions of What It Was Like at times and places that have now nearly disappeared as personal experience of living people. When the living have passed, nothing is left but words on pages, and Len Deighton has given me those in a way that make me think I can glimpse those experiences.

In Bomber, LD shows both British and German experiences the air war at a middle point in World War II - when the outcome was by no means certain. In this book, he shows the American experience of the air war. It was different than the British, and show more the book was needed.

Len Deighton shows each group sympathetically. His presentation of the American experience is believable to an me as American reader, which reassures me about the accuracy of the presentations of the British and German experiences.

The three books are like finding a steamer trunk in the attic. On opening it, you find uniforms of an old pattern with slightly dulled insignia and medals, with the scent of old wool. You can touch them, and the reality of the person who wore them suddenly becomes much more believable. They lived, and now they are gone. show less

Competent, as Deighton always is, but a little disappointing. The story of a group of USAAF fighter pilots escorting bombers on daylight raids on Germany is fairly light on the technical detail that Deighton handles so well, concentrating more on the personal relationships - family and romantic - of the characters. The rather serious difficulty (from a British point of view) of the sexual needs of the US forces - 'Over-sexed, over-paid and over here!' - is worked through with an over-dramatic conclusion, necessary for the plot but a little cliched. The actual combat scenes were, as far as I can tell, accurate but seemed rather peripheral to the romance, and rather lacked excitement.

If you are going to read the book, don't read show more BogartFan's Spoiler! show less

An attempt by Deighton to cover the other major Air force arm, the fighters, does not come off so well as "Bomber". It seems a bit formulaic, and the characters do not spring off the page with verve. The plot is pretty much that of Bomber, but there is no story on the German side , and the novel takes place not in the glory days of the Battle of Britain, but later, when the Allied Air superiority had become apparent.

So-so. It read quickly, like most of Deighton's work, but just didn't seem to engage me like his more intricate spy thrillers do. Follows the story of Jamie Farebrother and Mickey Morse, two American fighter pilots in Britain, flying to protect bombers, with Morse on a tear to beat Richenbach's record for most kills. (SPOILER)Romantic intrigue abounds, resulting in the errant death of a minor character (a PR lieutenant). Farebrother's father, a general, is there at the end to witness his son's death after cracking up on the runway during a takeoff. Morse finds and marries his brother's fiance, raises his son, and they all live happily ever after. Ho-hum.

3.5 Stars. Not enjoy it as much as when I read it 30 years ago.

Goodbye, Mickey Mouse is a historical novel by Len Deighton published on 12 October 1982. Set in Britain in early 1944 it tells the story of the 220th Fighter Group of the US Eighth Air Force in the lead up to the Allied invasion of Europe. The Group is based at a fictional airfield in Norfolk named Steeple Thaxted.

Good read