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The Houseguests: A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery
The movie Argo was fake before it was real. This is the story of the original Argo and of the six Americans who escaped the 1979 capture of the American Embassy in Iran. The author, one of the six, explains why they were in Iran, what went wrong and how they managed to escape the embassy compound. As chaos increasingly gripped Iran and its government fell, the Americans survived tension-filled days before reaching sanctuary with the Canadians. Then came an emotional roller-coaster ride, long days of boredom punctuated by nerve-wracking episodes, against the background of concern for their hostage colleagues and fear Washington had forgotten them. Finally the excitement of Argo, the arrival of CIA operative Tony Mendez and his daring scheme to exfiltrate the "houseguests," as they were called in secret communications between Tehran, Ottawa and Washington. Lijek explains how the six reacted to the CIA's "best bad idea" and what it was like to exit the airport with false papers, hoping the plan would work as advertised. He presents an overview of the years that followed, during which they repeatedly lied to hide the CIA's participation. He ends with the controversy that erupted when the CIA announced its role and continues to this day, as what had been the "Canadian Caper" became something else, at least in the eyes of many.
- GenresHistory
316 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 11, 2016
In the epilogue to The Houseguests, author Mark Lijek expresses the hope that the movie Argo, whatever its inaccuracies, will encourage viewers to find out more about what really happened. It worked. It was for that exact reason that, on arriving home from seeing Argo, I went searching for other information, and Lijek's book was one of the only books immediately available to me. Mark Bowden's book on the wider hostage crisis was at another library branch; Robert Wright's book on Ken Taylor is seriously rare in Australia; now Mendez's book is more widely available, but we saw the movie rather early. "The Houseguests" was available on Kobo, and able to be bought in Australia (thank you for self publishing, Mark Lijek).
Honestly - it showed that the book was self-published. Editing issues, typos, etc. But when you're interested enough, you can totally get past all that, and that's what this book did. Editing aside, I was captivated: and now that I've got my copy of the Argo DVD, I'm inclined to read the book all over again. Something about the way Lijek writes is very refreshing. It's so easy, with the Hostage Crisis, to descend onto jingoism and exceptionalism. Mendez does this a little, but then, he's CIA, you kind of expect it. Lijek just writes.
Obviously one is going to get a positive picture of a man's wife in a book he writes. What he wrote about Cora made me like her even more, and I'd been inclined to like her from the movie because she was played by the awesome Clea Duvall.
Now I've read the Bowden book, and Tony Mendez' own book. I'm still trying to track down the Wright book about Taylor. The Lijek gave me a wonderful view of what actually happened in the story told by Argo, and even more than that, it pointed me in the right direction to find out even more. The movie did exactly what Mark wanted it to do, and Mark's book just further whet my appetite. Thank you.
Honestly - it showed that the book was self-published. Editing issues, typos, etc. But when you're interested enough, you can totally get past all that, and that's what this book did. Editing aside, I was captivated: and now that I've got my copy of the Argo DVD, I'm inclined to read the book all over again. Something about the way Lijek writes is very refreshing. It's so easy, with the Hostage Crisis, to descend onto jingoism and exceptionalism. Mendez does this a little, but then, he's CIA, you kind of expect it. Lijek just writes.
Obviously one is going to get a positive picture of a man's wife in a book he writes. What he wrote about Cora made me like her even more, and I'd been inclined to like her from the movie because she was played by the awesome Clea Duvall.
Now I've read the Bowden book, and Tony Mendez' own book. I'm still trying to track down the Wright book about Taylor. The Lijek gave me a wonderful view of what actually happened in the story told by Argo, and even more than that, it pointed me in the right direction to find out even more. The movie did exactly what Mark wanted it to do, and Mark's book just further whet my appetite. Thank you.
January 26, 2013
The Houseguests is a great read. It's an account of the 1979 Iranian Hostage Taking, by one of the American diplomats who escaped disguised as a Canadian. Lijek is a self-aware observer, intelligent, understated and with a wry sense of humor, who tells a good story.
The story itself is riveting. This is the same set of circumstances the movie Argo is based on, but the film is dramatized while the book is the real thing. Argo will get all the attention; The Houseguests makes clear there are others, primarily the Canadians, who were among the real heroes but whose efforts didn't make it into the movie in proportion to their roles.
This is a self-published book, and what it lacks in polish and editing it more than makes up for in candor and freshness, in my view.
In many ways we've come to that point where reality is more powerful than fiction. The Houseguests is among the books that read almost like fiction, but are not. Kudos to the author for creating an enjoyable read and educating us into what really happened at the same time.
The story itself is riveting. This is the same set of circumstances the movie Argo is based on, but the film is dramatized while the book is the real thing. Argo will get all the attention; The Houseguests makes clear there are others, primarily the Canadians, who were among the real heroes but whose efforts didn't make it into the movie in proportion to their roles.
This is a self-published book, and what it lacks in polish and editing it more than makes up for in candor and freshness, in my view.
In many ways we've come to that point where reality is more powerful than fiction. The Houseguests is among the books that read almost like fiction, but are not. Kudos to the author for creating an enjoyable read and educating us into what really happened at the same time.
June 28, 2020
After visiting the Spy Museum in Washington D.C. and seeing the Argo exhibit first hand, I couldn’t read enough on the topic! So intriguing how The Houseguests exfiltrated from Iran. This book, written by one of the houseguests, provides a detailed account of where the movie Argo might’ve fell short. The author does a tremendous job of pulling in his own personal stories and perspective to bring the situation to life for the reader.
January 11, 2016
For those who saw the Academy Award winning movie Argo, this book will give you the true story of six U.S. diplomats smuggled out of Iran after the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in late 1979.
The author was one of the six and gives you the detailed feel for being trapped in a nightmare and no way to wake up. What do you do when you walk out of your work place as it's being mobbed, manage to escape, but find yourself in a foreign place where most people hate your nationality? Where do you go? What do you do about food, clean clothes, showers?
A few friends helped as they could, but eventually the bolt-holes disappeared as friends left or were put in too much danger. Finally they called a Canadian diplomat one of them knew, John Sheardown, who said, "Why didn't you call sooner?"
And that was the key. Putting their own diplomatic mission, including business deals for Canadians at risk, the Canadians nevertheless secretly sheltered them in their own houses until the CIA came up with the movie plan.
The movie version of the escape at the airport was pure Hollywood. The diplomats were nervous but everything worked. No chasing of the plane down the runway, etc.
Instead, the real fear was the day-to-day living under constant threat, never knowing when some worker might turn them in, and the boredom that ensues after days of never going out, having little to do.
I was fortunate to serve in the 1990's with two of the escaped diplomats and didn't know it at the time, as well as one of the hostages during another assignment at the State Department. All seemed laid back, as though they knew how valuable this life is and wanted to make the best of their blessings.
The author was one of the six and gives you the detailed feel for being trapped in a nightmare and no way to wake up. What do you do when you walk out of your work place as it's being mobbed, manage to escape, but find yourself in a foreign place where most people hate your nationality? Where do you go? What do you do about food, clean clothes, showers?
A few friends helped as they could, but eventually the bolt-holes disappeared as friends left or were put in too much danger. Finally they called a Canadian diplomat one of them knew, John Sheardown, who said, "Why didn't you call sooner?"
And that was the key. Putting their own diplomatic mission, including business deals for Canadians at risk, the Canadians nevertheless secretly sheltered them in their own houses until the CIA came up with the movie plan.
The movie version of the escape at the airport was pure Hollywood. The diplomats were nervous but everything worked. No chasing of the plane down the runway, etc.
Instead, the real fear was the day-to-day living under constant threat, never knowing when some worker might turn them in, and the boredom that ensues after days of never going out, having little to do.
I was fortunate to serve in the 1990's with two of the escaped diplomats and didn't know it at the time, as well as one of the hostages during another assignment at the State Department. All seemed laid back, as though they knew how valuable this life is and wanted to make the best of their blessings.
March 29, 2016
This account of the so-called "Canadian Caper" in which six American hostages were spirited out of Tehran is a first person description from one of the escapees. I decided to read it after watching the film 'Argo' and it fills in many of the blanks and offers a more detailed version of events. I enjoyed it very much: it would have benefited from the attentions of a professional editor to tighten up the narrative, but despite that, it is a very readable, engaging and rounded account. If you are interested in what happened following the fall of the Shah, or enjoyed the film Argo, I recommend it to you.
December 7, 2017
Interesting personal account of the people who escaped in Argo. Adds some color and understanding of them as people beyond the fictionalized versions. The initial terror of the takeover and evading capture. The long, tense monotony of hiding out. The mixture of surreality and humor with fear and danger in the escape. It all makes for a pretty interesting human story.
January 13, 2016
I saw the movie first then found the book - I didn't mind the artist license in the movie (the shredding room really? Running down the runway?) but I wanted to know more. I think I will read Mendez's book too.
February 25, 2013
The real "Argo" story, related by one of the six Americans whose lives were protected by Canadian diplomats in Tehran in 1979-80, while plans were made and carried out to smuggle them out of Iran.
January 20, 2016
Very interesting firsthand story about the house guests of the Canadians. Could have benefited from an editor.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews