The Tailor of Panama

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: John le Carré

"Le Carre remains far in front in his field, a startlingly up-to-date storyteller who writes as well about the shadows around the power elite as anyone alive."
-Publishers Weekly

Le Carre's Panama is a Casablanca without heroes, a hotbed of drugs, laundered money and corruption. It is also the country which on December 31, 1999, will gain full control of the Panama Canal.

Seldom has the weight of politics descended so heavily on such a tiny and unprepared nation. And seldom has the hidden eye of the British Intelligence selected such an unlikely champion as Harry Pendel - a charmer, a dreamer, an evader, a fabulist and presiding genius to the house of Pendel & Braithwaite Co. Limitada, Tailors to Royalty, formerly of London and presently of Panama City.

Yet there is a logic to the spies' choice, for everybody who is anybody in Cental America passes through Pendel's doors. He dresses politicos and crooks and conmen. His fitting room hears more confidences than the priest's confessional. And when Harry Pendel doesn't hear things as such - well, he hears them anyway, by other means.

In a thrilling, hilarious AudioBook, le Carre once again effortlessly expands the borders of the spy story to bring us a magnificent entertainment straight out of the pages of tomorrow's history.

Critic reviews

Praise for John le Carré:

"Let me be specific: I think the man deserves the Nobel." —The Globe and Mail

“As the greatest spy novelist of our times John le Carré has always used as the bedrock of his craft the strange ways people are bound to each other.” —Calgary Sun

“In a world where villains can bleed tragedy and heroes may not be so heroic, le Carré is still our keenest arbiter.” —Winnipeg Free Press

“No other contemporary novelist has more durably enjoyed the twin badges of being both well read and well regarded.” —Scott Turow

“Le Carré, always an intriguing blend of patrician and populist, gives voice to all our contempt for hot-money deals.” —The Independent (UK)

“I would suggest immortality for John le Carré…. May he write forever!” —Chicago Tribune

“A literary master for a generation.” —The Observer (UK)

"Furious in action … Takes us by the neck on page one and never lets go." —Chicago Sun-Times

Read by the author- such a wonderful book

This book is fantastic- to hear it read by the author makes this listen sublime.

A Good Spy Tale

I got this abridged version as it was narrated by Le Carre. I liked the story as I am interested in spy novels, and I have read Le Carre in the past. The narration was difficult in parts as Le Carre spoke softly for Harry Pendel, and I had to turn up the volume to get it. Also it is difficult for a man to do a female voice and a spanish accent even more difficult, so the female parts were lost a bit in the narration.
If you are looking for a short spy caper then this would be a good one.

Not one of Le Carré's best

Would you try another book from John le Carré and/or John le Carré?

Yes.

Would you recommend The Tailor of Panama to your friends? Why or why not?

No. The book gets off to a great start but then the plot gets muddled. Seems as if le Carré lost interest. Read the original by Graham Greene.

How could the performance have been better?

Get an actor to read the book. Le Carré cannot imitate an American accent! Or a woman's voice. This reading was just terrible.

Did not enjoy this book.

I did not enjoy this book. The narrator changed the volume of his voice too much, meaning at normal volume other voices were an inaudible whisper, and when turned up to hear the whispers, normal voices were painfully loud. The story I found to be boring, and when the book was over, I wondered to some extent what it was about.