IT CAN'T ALWAYS BE CAVIAR

by Johannes M. Simmel ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 1965

Documentary novel, roaring prevarication, or parody of the James Bond tale of international intrigue, Caviar may sometimes be hard to swallow but it sure isn't dull. It is subtitled ""The fabulously daring adventures and exquisite cooking recipes of the involuntary secret agent Thomas Lieven..."" Lieven is at times a triple double-agent, working for and against the German, British and French secret services, and later the Russian and American. A convinced pacifist and a German, Lieven is also a master swindler, seducer and gastronomist (his recipes are given in exquisite detail indeed.) Author Simmel tells us that he got this tale from Lieven himself (a fictitious name) and that this is a true story told in the form of a novel for purposes of disguise. Lieven, though, like Lanny Budd, gets involved with famous living people such as J. Edgar Hoover, the Gestapo's Admiral Canaris, master Soviet spy Rudolph Abel, and at one point is helping Josephine Baker in the French Underground. He is constantly being kidnapped, rescued and forced into service by opposing spy systems in his very funny reversals of fortune over a twenty-year period... Whether legpull or the truth, this will be widely enjoyed for its Escapist Sauce Supreme.

Pub Date: March 5, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1965

Categories: FICTION