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The Spy in the Ointment
A typographical error puts J. Eugene Raxford into the middle of a plot to destroy the world in this humorous suspense adventure
Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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About the author
Donald E. Westlake
434 books989 followersDonald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950's, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms such as Richard Stark—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and Parker, a ruthless criminal. His writing earned him three Edgar Awards: the 1968 Best Novel award for God Save the Mark; the 1990 Best Short Story award for "Too Many Crooks"; and the 1991 Best Motion Picture Screenplay award for The Grifters. In addition, Westlake also earned a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.
Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.
Some of the pseudonyms he used include
• Richard Stark
• Timothy J. Culver
• Tucker Coe
• Curt Clark
• J. Morgan Cunningham
• Judson Jack Carmichael
• D.E. Westlake
• Donald I. Vestlejk
• Don Westlake
Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.
Some of the pseudonyms he used include
• Richard Stark
• Timothy J. Culver
• Tucker Coe
• Curt Clark
• J. Morgan Cunningham
• Judson Jack Carmichael
• D.E. Westlake
• Donald I. Vestlejk
• Don Westlake
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
May 2, 2019
I think this is the first time I've given a D.E.W. book less than 4 stars. It's an early effort and it's a spoof of spy novels. During most of it I just thought it too silly, but of course, that's what it was meant to be. Towards the end it picked up, but I have to say it's a lesser effort. For Westlake, so far it's the only lesser effort.
April 22, 2011
A very early Westlake romp, silly and fun.... but having a rather dated mid-60s feel and lacking the discipline that would enhance the gleefully subversive humor of his later work. Hey, he was still learning, and it's fun to watch him learning . This one pokes fun at naïve activism and political extremism, as well as at the staidness of Federal agents. The plot-- for what it's worth-- involves a youthful zealot who gets caught up in the weirdest, most Byzantine conspiracy imaginable and is recruited by an unnamed agency as a reluctant undercover operative.
Westlake was usually willing to push the envelope and take chances, and while he tends to overwork the gags and the plot twists in this one, they do produce a few laughs. A Westlake completist such as yours truly will want to read this one-- but I do not suggest it as an introduction to the writer.
Westlake was usually willing to push the envelope and take chances, and while he tends to overwork the gags and the plot twists in this one, they do produce a few laughs. A Westlake completist such as yours truly will want to read this one-- but I do not suggest it as an introduction to the writer.
August 4, 2019
I wacky and fun spy story from Donald Westlake.
November 4, 2023
This was my first Donald Westlake book and it turns out that it is almost as old as I am
This is a bit of a farce with moments of serious plot.
A man who runs a pacifists group get mixed up with a bunch of real terrorists who want to blow up the UN And he ends up mass an undercover Secret Agent constantly in danger
It’s insane and poignant at the same tme
This is a bit of a farce with moments of serious plot.
A man who runs a pacifists group get mixed up with a bunch of real terrorists who want to blow up the UN And he ends up mass an undercover Secret Agent constantly in danger
It’s insane and poignant at the same tme
September 8, 2019
3.5 stars. This was an early Westlake from the mid 60s. The head of a pacifist organization is mistakenly placed on an FBI list of domestic terrorists and is recruited by actual terrorists to help blow up the UN building. A shadowy government bureau gives him a crash course in spy techniques and a collection of devices straight out of Get Smart to help him infiltrate the group and stop their nefarious plan.
Some of the jokes are dated (I may be in the final generation to remember mimeograph machines) but I still found it very funny in places. Other parts seem to have a terribly naive worldview compared to 2019. Add in a heaping portion of stereotypes which guarantee to find at least one that will offend any reader.
Some of the jokes are dated (I may be in the final generation to remember mimeograph machines) but I still found it very funny in places. Other parts seem to have a terribly naive worldview compared to 2019. Add in a heaping portion of stereotypes which guarantee to find at least one that will offend any reader.
May 18, 2020
From the front flap: Can a peace loving pacifist from a tiny downstate New York village named Greenwich find happiness in the middle of a mob of dedicated assassins? This is the question our hero, J. Eugene Raxford asks himself while ducking bullets, bombs, karate chops and - ultimately - swords.....
That is a very succinct, accurate synopsis.
Mix in a rich, ditzy girlfriend, stern faced FBI agents, and a few other federal agencies with abbreviations for names, and you have a suspense filled, funny adventure.
This book was written to be humorous and entertaining and that is exactly what you get. 5 stars!
That is a very succinct, accurate synopsis.
Mix in a rich, ditzy girlfriend, stern faced FBI agents, and a few other federal agencies with abbreviations for names, and you have a suspense filled, funny adventure.
This book was written to be humorous and entertaining and that is exactly what you get. 5 stars!
September 4, 2021
Silly, light and spoofy - it reads like later Westlake but is obviously an immature entry in his catalog.
September 20, 2024
The Spy in the Ointment by Donald E Westlake was conjured in 1966, and is the sendup of sendups. A satirical and humorist look at the world in turmoil, in particular espionage, terrorist/counter terrorist, protest and law enforcement all rolled into one. Probably inspired by Mad Magazine’s Spy vs. Spy, it is predictive of the increasing prevalence of extremism and terrorism today and spiraling ever upward the past 60 years.
Westlake’s approach is to poke the bear in eye, through humor and spoof…(I’m sure he had lots of fun writing), perhaps embedded in the hero’s pacifism is Westlake’s hidden and ignored message …in a mad world to let’s give peace a chance? Not likely, but…
Knock on the door. “My potential visitors were few: a Member, a process server or bill collector, a man from the FBI (or some other government agency), or a cop. None of which this caller appeared to be. He wasn’t a Member; there are only seventeen of us now, and I know each of my fellow conspirators very well.” - “I observed that he was of middle age and medium height, quite stocky in a well-fed yet physically fit way, and that he was by far the best-dressed person to have entered this apartment building in half a century. He was, in fact, just a trifle too well dressed.” -“My visitor said to me, in a rich, controlled, radio announcer’s voice, “Mr. Raxford? Mr. J. Eugene Raxford?” “That’s me,” I said. “Ah! You yourself!” Surprise and delight animated his features.”
His card. MORTIMER EUSTALY Curios Import & Export By appointment
“The J. Eugene Raxford I am concerned with,” he went grandly on, brooking no interruption, “is National Chairman of the Citizens’ Independence Union!” [Backstory] “our original 1952 strength of some fourteen hundred young men and women of high purpose and unflagging devotion has dwindled over the years to our present membership of seventeen, twelve of whom are on the inactive list. A large body of the membership defected, of course” -“I’ve always suspected that most of our early members joined us primarily in hopes of finding somebody to have sex with. God knows they all did it incessantly.” —A group meeting of terrorists then proposed…
Another knock on the door. “You’re late,” I told them. “Your coffee’s cold.” (I try to be nice to people from the FBI in the hope that sooner or later they’ll decide to leave me alone again)” -“ CIU was under surveillance in the middle fifties because that’s what life was like in the middle fifties” —
A & B today’s inquiry. “I didn’t like this sign-language theory of A’s a bit. If the whole FBI went along with it, they’d stop emptying my wastebaskets. I haven’t emptied a wastebasket in nearly three years, and I’d hate to have to start all over again.” - “B interrupted saying, “You don’t expect us to believe that, do you?” “Probably not,” I admitted. “But on the other hand, what would you believe?” “We’ll ask the questions,” B snapped. “Ah,” I said, “but I’ll ask the rhetorical questions.”
Eugene’s aide de camp. “Angela is the daughter of Marcellus Ten Eyck, the industrialist and munitions maker best known for his contribution in World War II of the Ten Eyck 10-10 Tank, sometimes called the Triple Ten or the Triple Tee, the tank about which there was a muddled, inconclusive, and abruptly halted Congressional inquiry in 1948. As any psychoanalyst could have told the father, both of his children grew up to oppose him.” Wait until brother Tyrone show up…
Concerned with the consequences of not attending, Eugene and Angela go. “above it all stood Eustaly, his expression pained, his hands out in a gesture imploring peace, his mouth working as he tried once again to butter the mob to tractability.” A gathering of motley outsiders of all tenets. - “I looked at Angela, but she was staring in fascination, enthralled, like a child watching heavy traffic.” A reprimand. “Ladies and gentlemen, really, I am surprised at you.” No one answered him. They were, I think, surprised at themselves. “This is not to our best advantage,” next… “Next, Mr. Sun Kut Fu of the Eurasian Relief Corps, ERC.” -“looked like an Ivy League college student, of the brilliant but argumentative type professors hate so much” and so on, and so forth, one worse or crazier than the other. Meeting culminates in the appearance of mysterious Mr. Eyck…alias Angela's bro, Tyron. Eugene and Angela take flight.
The FBI listen, and gradually come round. Many of the attendees are known, including Eustaly, and there’s interest in Tyrone’s return to the U.S. “I’ve never heard of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Whelp, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They sound right-wing to me, and our files have always been a little more extensive on the left. You can’t quote me on that.” - Decision to offer protection in exchange for Eugene operating as their double agent- 5 day training included. Outfitting. “removed my own shoes, and put these Navy clogs on in their place. They fit perfectly.” “How are they?” “Fine,” I said. “Are they new?” “No, they’re not. Now, in the—” “Wait a second,” I said. “They’re used shoes?” “That’s right,” he said. “Why am I wearing somebody else’s shoes?” I asked. “The previous wearer,” he said, “has no further use for them.” “I do want to know about, I want to know why I’m wearing them.” “They contain,” he explained patiently, “your transmitter and receiver.” “Now, whenever your control wishes to communicate with you, you’ll feel a slight tingling sensation in your wrist. At such time, put the watch to your ear.” And so on, and so forth…including exploding credit card [precursor to exploding burners & walkie-talkies?] … “I’m not backing out,” I assured him, “but once and for all I want to get straight with you people just what a pacifist is, or at least what this particular pacifist is, a pacifist is someone who believes that the ultimate weapón in any and all disputes, from the personal to the international, is reason. Thought, negotiation, good will, and compromise are all words that sound nasty and probably Communist to the tough guys who want another war because their lives are too banal to be borne in peacetime, but these are the words we use and the concepts we believe in.” [ Westlake message inserted and left for reader consideration]
— “I was given the choice of assisting in an investigation of lawbreakers or of being abandoned to be gunned down by them, and better Fed than dead is what I chose.”
This will get you into the story… complete it at your risk …
Cinema fans. Westlake author/ and head of casting…
—“ R had been listening to this with the disgruntled face of a Lee J. Cobb”
—“ Angela was not about to be dissuaded by the sort of crotchety old man who existed in Boccaccio exclusively to be horned”
—“ A hand, thin-fingered, spidery, closed on my right wrist. A sibilant whisper, as of Peter Lorre at his most exultantly manic, sounded at my side: “Pleasss, thissss way.”
—“ in strode Tyrone Ten Eyck. (Face to face with him it was impossible to think of him under his pseudonym. “Leon Eyck” was nothing this man could possibly be called. He was what the young Orson Welles had always wanted to be.) He had a resonant melodic voice, with something strange in it: the sound of the crushing of baby’s bones.“
—“ The truck looked old and tired and topheavy, one of those wheezing monsters John Garfield and Richard Conte used to drive during the Depression.”
—“ I cleared my throat, licked my lips, did a Humphrey Bogart twitch with my right cheek, and said, “One thing I don’t understand. Why do two individuals want to blow up the UN Building?”
—“ a pink chaise longue with golden legs. On this, like a parody of Charles Laughton, old man Ten Eyck sprawled unconscious”
More from the afterword. “Westlake’s cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books” … “Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson’s noir classic.”
Get the picture? 🎥! Action…
Westlake’s approach is to poke the bear in eye, through humor and spoof…(I’m sure he had lots of fun writing), perhaps embedded in the hero’s pacifism is Westlake’s hidden and ignored message …in a mad world to let’s give peace a chance? Not likely, but…
Knock on the door. “My potential visitors were few: a Member, a process server or bill collector, a man from the FBI (or some other government agency), or a cop. None of which this caller appeared to be. He wasn’t a Member; there are only seventeen of us now, and I know each of my fellow conspirators very well.” - “I observed that he was of middle age and medium height, quite stocky in a well-fed yet physically fit way, and that he was by far the best-dressed person to have entered this apartment building in half a century. He was, in fact, just a trifle too well dressed.” -“My visitor said to me, in a rich, controlled, radio announcer’s voice, “Mr. Raxford? Mr. J. Eugene Raxford?” “That’s me,” I said. “Ah! You yourself!” Surprise and delight animated his features.”
His card. MORTIMER EUSTALY Curios Import & Export By appointment
“The J. Eugene Raxford I am concerned with,” he went grandly on, brooking no interruption, “is National Chairman of the Citizens’ Independence Union!” [Backstory] “our original 1952 strength of some fourteen hundred young men and women of high purpose and unflagging devotion has dwindled over the years to our present membership of seventeen, twelve of whom are on the inactive list. A large body of the membership defected, of course” -“I’ve always suspected that most of our early members joined us primarily in hopes of finding somebody to have sex with. God knows they all did it incessantly.” —A group meeting of terrorists then proposed…
Another knock on the door. “You’re late,” I told them. “Your coffee’s cold.” (I try to be nice to people from the FBI in the hope that sooner or later they’ll decide to leave me alone again)” -“ CIU was under surveillance in the middle fifties because that’s what life was like in the middle fifties” —
A & B today’s inquiry. “I didn’t like this sign-language theory of A’s a bit. If the whole FBI went along with it, they’d stop emptying my wastebaskets. I haven’t emptied a wastebasket in nearly three years, and I’d hate to have to start all over again.” - “B interrupted saying, “You don’t expect us to believe that, do you?” “Probably not,” I admitted. “But on the other hand, what would you believe?” “We’ll ask the questions,” B snapped. “Ah,” I said, “but I’ll ask the rhetorical questions.”
Eugene’s aide de camp. “Angela is the daughter of Marcellus Ten Eyck, the industrialist and munitions maker best known for his contribution in World War II of the Ten Eyck 10-10 Tank, sometimes called the Triple Ten or the Triple Tee, the tank about which there was a muddled, inconclusive, and abruptly halted Congressional inquiry in 1948. As any psychoanalyst could have told the father, both of his children grew up to oppose him.” Wait until brother Tyrone show up…
Concerned with the consequences of not attending, Eugene and Angela go. “above it all stood Eustaly, his expression pained, his hands out in a gesture imploring peace, his mouth working as he tried once again to butter the mob to tractability.” A gathering of motley outsiders of all tenets. - “I looked at Angela, but she was staring in fascination, enthralled, like a child watching heavy traffic.” A reprimand. “Ladies and gentlemen, really, I am surprised at you.” No one answered him. They were, I think, surprised at themselves. “This is not to our best advantage,” next… “Next, Mr. Sun Kut Fu of the Eurasian Relief Corps, ERC.” -“looked like an Ivy League college student, of the brilliant but argumentative type professors hate so much” and so on, and so forth, one worse or crazier than the other. Meeting culminates in the appearance of mysterious Mr. Eyck…alias Angela's bro, Tyron. Eugene and Angela take flight.
The FBI listen, and gradually come round. Many of the attendees are known, including Eustaly, and there’s interest in Tyrone’s return to the U.S. “I’ve never heard of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Whelp, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They sound right-wing to me, and our files have always been a little more extensive on the left. You can’t quote me on that.” - Decision to offer protection in exchange for Eugene operating as their double agent- 5 day training included. Outfitting. “removed my own shoes, and put these Navy clogs on in their place. They fit perfectly.” “How are they?” “Fine,” I said. “Are they new?” “No, they’re not. Now, in the—” “Wait a second,” I said. “They’re used shoes?” “That’s right,” he said. “Why am I wearing somebody else’s shoes?” I asked. “The previous wearer,” he said, “has no further use for them.” “I do want to know about, I want to know why I’m wearing them.” “They contain,” he explained patiently, “your transmitter and receiver.” “Now, whenever your control wishes to communicate with you, you’ll feel a slight tingling sensation in your wrist. At such time, put the watch to your ear.” And so on, and so forth…including exploding credit card [precursor to exploding burners & walkie-talkies?] … “I’m not backing out,” I assured him, “but once and for all I want to get straight with you people just what a pacifist is, or at least what this particular pacifist is, a pacifist is someone who believes that the ultimate weapón in any and all disputes, from the personal to the international, is reason. Thought, negotiation, good will, and compromise are all words that sound nasty and probably Communist to the tough guys who want another war because their lives are too banal to be borne in peacetime, but these are the words we use and the concepts we believe in.” [ Westlake message inserted and left for reader consideration]
— “I was given the choice of assisting in an investigation of lawbreakers or of being abandoned to be gunned down by them, and better Fed than dead is what I chose.”
This will get you into the story… complete it at your risk …
Cinema fans. Westlake author/ and head of casting…
—“ R had been listening to this with the disgruntled face of a Lee J. Cobb”
—“ Angela was not about to be dissuaded by the sort of crotchety old man who existed in Boccaccio exclusively to be horned”
—“ A hand, thin-fingered, spidery, closed on my right wrist. A sibilant whisper, as of Peter Lorre at his most exultantly manic, sounded at my side: “Pleasss, thissss way.”
—“ in strode Tyrone Ten Eyck. (Face to face with him it was impossible to think of him under his pseudonym. “Leon Eyck” was nothing this man could possibly be called. He was what the young Orson Welles had always wanted to be.) He had a resonant melodic voice, with something strange in it: the sound of the crushing of baby’s bones.“
—“ The truck looked old and tired and topheavy, one of those wheezing monsters John Garfield and Richard Conte used to drive during the Depression.”
—“ I cleared my throat, licked my lips, did a Humphrey Bogart twitch with my right cheek, and said, “One thing I don’t understand. Why do two individuals want to blow up the UN Building?”
—“ a pink chaise longue with golden legs. On this, like a parody of Charles Laughton, old man Ten Eyck sprawled unconscious”
More from the afterword. “Westlake’s cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books” … “Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson’s noir classic.”
Get the picture? 🎥! Action…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2024
i was gonna say the characters were kinda flat but then the kinda incompetent fbi guy that was extremely pacifist became less pacifist and that was shocking
April 24, 2020
This was an amusing read, chiefly on account of the bumbling ineptitude of the cast of characters, principally those in law enforcement and other civil authorities. I could not help but compare the shenanigans in this read to the slapstick tomfoolery that earmark the 'Get Smart' television series, and 'The Naked Gun' and 'Police Academy' movies. Truth be told, there were times when I almost expected a ACME (cartoon) prop to appear in the scenes. The plot is lightweight, but worth the entertainment value.
* Read for the '2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge' task: A book with a pun in the title
* Read for the '2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge' task: A book with a pun in the title
April 5, 2020
A satirical spy novel that started off slowly but redeemed itself halfway. Pacifist J. Eugene Raxford is mistaken for the head of a terrorist group and subsequently roped into a league of various terrorist groups. With the somewhat useless backing of the FBI, Eugene goes undercover and tries to foil Tyrone Ten Eyck's dastardly plan.
2.5/5
2.5/5
September 6, 2021
One of Westlake's earliest novels. Light entertainment.
July 12, 2014
J. Eugene Raxford, surprisingly enough, is not a character in a W.C. Fields movie: he is a nebbish sharing a hovel on the Lower East Side with a recalcitrant mimeograph machine. As the head of a pacifist organization with a "present membership of seventeen, twelve of whom are on the inactive list", he is under constant FBI surveillance. All is not bleak, however: he is shacking up with a beautiful, blonde heiress, with an empty head and a heart of gold.
Owing to a clerical error on the part of the FBI, Gene is recruited into a terrorist cabal, who are planning an ambitious campaign to blow up the U.N building. Working for the Feds, can Eugene overcome his deep-seated pacifist principles to actively foil the plot?
The result of this set up feels very much like an early Woody Allen reconfiguring of The Man Who Was Thursday: highly entertaining.
Owing to a clerical error on the part of the FBI, Gene is recruited into a terrorist cabal, who are planning an ambitious campaign to blow up the U.N building. Working for the Feds, can Eugene overcome his deep-seated pacifist principles to actively foil the plot?
The result of this set up feels very much like an early Woody Allen reconfiguring of The Man Who Was Thursday: highly entertaining.
March 28, 2016
Sure, some of the references in a book written almost fifty years ago will be dated, but this is still a fair amount of fun to read. And one could argue that a story about terrorist plots is actually very timely in today's world.
Gene Raxford, the central character, is pleasantly distinctive. He is certainly not hard-boiled, but also not incompetent, so perhaps "soft-boiled?" I found Westlake's humor effective, and the plot, while zany to the point of absurdity, still somehow holds together pretty well.
Certainly not "literature," but a diverting read, and there's a lot to be said for that.
Gene Raxford, the central character, is pleasantly distinctive. He is certainly not hard-boiled, but also not incompetent, so perhaps "soft-boiled?" I found Westlake's humor effective, and the plot, while zany to the point of absurdity, still somehow holds together pretty well.
Certainly not "literature," but a diverting read, and there's a lot to be said for that.
July 10, 2019
Not as good as the Dortmunder novels, but nothing else is either. If you can get past the awful book cover you'll enjoy this spy spoof which has a plausible story and lots of humor. The plot might remind you of the movie North by Northwest, where an ordinary guy is mistaken for someone else and has to pretend to be who the bad guys think he is or he's in real trouble.
September 3, 2024
[warning, spoilers]
“The Spy in the Ointment” is an unusual Westlake novel in that it is, as the title indicates, a spy story. To be precise, it’s a spy comedy, in the tradition of “Our Man in Havana”, and hence follows the usual rules for the genre, namely that the hero is not a professional spy and that the professional spies who employ him, as well as their opponents, who may or may not also be professional spies, are not very good at their jobs. The usual way for the hero to end up as a spy is through a case of mistaken identity, and so it is here: our protagonist, Gene, is the head of a small pacifist group that has, thanks to a mixup by the State Department, been mistaken for a now-defunct small would-be terrorist group with a similar name. The mistake was made by someone who hopes to weld a motley collection of tiny wannabe terrorist grouplets, of highly varying and often totally incompatible ideologies, into a cohesive force for achieving something: nominally blowing up the UN building, but in reality a different goal that is so unimportant to the book that I’ve forgotten it. This part is not super plausible, alas: all the groups in question are fringe sects with extremely far-out beliefs, so as to avoid offending anybody who isn’t an actual Nazi, so I found it unlikely that they would agree to work with groups who are, in many cases, just as much their enemies as the US government. Westlake has the mastermind use violence to force them to work together, but if he can bring that much violence to bear, it’s not entirely clear why he needs them at all. On the other hand, Westlake gets a number of good jokes out of the crazies, while making the real villain be someone who has no ideology at all.
At any rate, since the would-be terrorists will certainly try to kill Gene if he refuses to work with them, he is utterly unprepared to resist them, and he is, as a pacifist, completely opposed to everything they stand for, he ends up working with the FBI, who previously had spent their time harassing him for his subversive activities, to infiltrate the group. Naturally, his handlers lose touch with him almost immediately — there’s a great scene in which the FBI agents who are tailing him lose him in Manhattan traffic — leaving Gene to handle the situation all by himself. The various fringe groups, on the other hand, aren’t doing any better, as they are being ruthlessly eliminated by the main bad guy as soon as they cease being useful to him. As one might expect, Gene is the only one who manages to handle the situation, at least from the perspective of any readers who are not pacifists. But from Gene’s point of view, by committing an act of violence himself, he has betrayed his sincerely-held principles, and at the end of the book he rededicates himself to pacifism, his discovery of his own propensity for violence having convinced him that it's even more essential. All this makes Gene a more interesting character, with more interesting arc, than the aimless slackers of the mystery comedies that Westlake was writing around the same time.
On the other hand, those books are undoubtedly better. Partly this is because they are funnier, likely because Westlake was more familiar with the crime genre and so better able to send it up. This is also likely why the crime stories seem to be more suspenseful: Westlake is better able to keep us guessing as to how things will end. But it’s also because they aren’t weighed down with characters like Angela Ten Eyck. Angela is Gene’s girlfriend when the story opens, a fellow member — possibly the only other member — of his pacifist group. She’s also a mechanical genius, who single-handedly keeps the group going by ensuring that its ancient mimeograph machine, used to produce pamphlets, remains operational. So it doesn’t really make sense that she’s also depicted as the dumbest of dumb blondes. Sure, her pacifism is at least in part due to her disagreements with her tyrannical arms manufacturer father, but I’m pretty sure that there are easier ways for a wealthy young woman to rebel against her father than by joining a marginal political group that is opposed to his business, and she’s been part of it for far longer than would be needed to prove a point. And it’s hard to believe that she’s some kind of idiot savant who understands machines and only machines. Her character doesn’t add up, and the dumb blonde jokes have long since stopped being funny enough to compensate. I wouldn’t recommend against reading “The Spy in the Ointment”, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of your list either.
“The Spy in the Ointment” is an unusual Westlake novel in that it is, as the title indicates, a spy story. To be precise, it’s a spy comedy, in the tradition of “Our Man in Havana”, and hence follows the usual rules for the genre, namely that the hero is not a professional spy and that the professional spies who employ him, as well as their opponents, who may or may not also be professional spies, are not very good at their jobs. The usual way for the hero to end up as a spy is through a case of mistaken identity, and so it is here: our protagonist, Gene, is the head of a small pacifist group that has, thanks to a mixup by the State Department, been mistaken for a now-defunct small would-be terrorist group with a similar name. The mistake was made by someone who hopes to weld a motley collection of tiny wannabe terrorist grouplets, of highly varying and often totally incompatible ideologies, into a cohesive force for achieving something: nominally blowing up the UN building, but in reality a different goal that is so unimportant to the book that I’ve forgotten it. This part is not super plausible, alas: all the groups in question are fringe sects with extremely far-out beliefs, so as to avoid offending anybody who isn’t an actual Nazi, so I found it unlikely that they would agree to work with groups who are, in many cases, just as much their enemies as the US government. Westlake has the mastermind use violence to force them to work together, but if he can bring that much violence to bear, it’s not entirely clear why he needs them at all. On the other hand, Westlake gets a number of good jokes out of the crazies, while making the real villain be someone who has no ideology at all.
At any rate, since the would-be terrorists will certainly try to kill Gene if he refuses to work with them, he is utterly unprepared to resist them, and he is, as a pacifist, completely opposed to everything they stand for, he ends up working with the FBI, who previously had spent their time harassing him for his subversive activities, to infiltrate the group. Naturally, his handlers lose touch with him almost immediately — there’s a great scene in which the FBI agents who are tailing him lose him in Manhattan traffic — leaving Gene to handle the situation all by himself. The various fringe groups, on the other hand, aren’t doing any better, as they are being ruthlessly eliminated by the main bad guy as soon as they cease being useful to him. As one might expect, Gene is the only one who manages to handle the situation, at least from the perspective of any readers who are not pacifists. But from Gene’s point of view, by committing an act of violence himself, he has betrayed his sincerely-held principles, and at the end of the book he rededicates himself to pacifism, his discovery of his own propensity for violence having convinced him that it's even more essential. All this makes Gene a more interesting character, with more interesting arc, than the aimless slackers of the mystery comedies that Westlake was writing around the same time.
On the other hand, those books are undoubtedly better. Partly this is because they are funnier, likely because Westlake was more familiar with the crime genre and so better able to send it up. This is also likely why the crime stories seem to be more suspenseful: Westlake is better able to keep us guessing as to how things will end. But it’s also because they aren’t weighed down with characters like Angela Ten Eyck. Angela is Gene’s girlfriend when the story opens, a fellow member — possibly the only other member — of his pacifist group. She’s also a mechanical genius, who single-handedly keeps the group going by ensuring that its ancient mimeograph machine, used to produce pamphlets, remains operational. So it doesn’t really make sense that she’s also depicted as the dumbest of dumb blondes. Sure, her pacifism is at least in part due to her disagreements with her tyrannical arms manufacturer father, but I’m pretty sure that there are easier ways for a wealthy young woman to rebel against her father than by joining a marginal political group that is opposed to his business, and she’s been part of it for far longer than would be needed to prove a point. And it’s hard to believe that she’s some kind of idiot savant who understands machines and only machines. Her character doesn’t add up, and the dumb blonde jokes have long since stopped being funny enough to compensate. I wouldn’t recommend against reading “The Spy in the Ointment”, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of your list either.
September 5, 2023
Westlake is a bit outside his normal wheelhouse in this spoof of the au courant at the time spy thriller. This is more Get Smart (complete with fancy shoe radio broadcasted--but not phone, alas) than James Bond, and it is definitely amusing, but it is also pretty slight. There is not an overabundance of plot. A lot of the comedy is more situational than action-based--e.g. the way narrator Eugene Raxford interacts with the FBI is often laugh out loud (or at least chuckle) funny. One might view several developments as predictable and formulaic, but one might equally argue that they represent Westlake's parodying of this sort of story. Especially amusing is the scene in which Raxford uses up most of his arsenal of fancy gadgets disguised as personal items (necktie, handkerchief, etc), to no good effect. I was also tickled by the fact that we end up not in fact learning either who the chief villain's actual targets were, nor who the mysterious individuals who hired him were. I'm not sure I would give this one credit for being ahead of the curve on using a terrorist attack as a cover for a more focused crime, but it's a plot device that does resonate reasonably well today, unlike, perhaps, some of the more stereotypical aspects of the characterization. This one is relatively minor Westlake, but it is still entertaining.
June 23, 2021
We found this book in a pile of things belonging to my late father-in-law. The paperback was still usable, still readable. So what did I obviously do? I read it. Obviously.
A few things strike me about this book. First, it's utterly adorable. It's adorable in its prose, in its depictions of the FBI and criminal organizations, in the way it necessarily wears its vintage on every page for both good and bad. It's very scent communicates, as do references to mimeographs and the way it declares boldly that it exists purely in a pre-US intervention in Vietnam age, one where the two previous meat grinders came and went and that sort of thing would be over forever if the Americans and the Russians could just keep their fingers away from the button.
But that anachronistic naïveté is also striking because buried in it all are issues still relevant today, factions still visible today, and methods that have come to shape the world we now live in. It's strangely precocious, if such a thing can be said about a book. Even when people are being beaten to death or shot, there's an odd sense of stylistic juxtaposition.
Bloodless, sexless, and largely clean of tongue, it is very nearly a pulp thriller for anyone to enjoy.
A few things strike me about this book. First, it's utterly adorable. It's adorable in its prose, in its depictions of the FBI and criminal organizations, in the way it necessarily wears its vintage on every page for both good and bad. It's very scent communicates, as do references to mimeographs and the way it declares boldly that it exists purely in a pre-US intervention in Vietnam age, one where the two previous meat grinders came and went and that sort of thing would be over forever if the Americans and the Russians could just keep their fingers away from the button.
But that anachronistic naïveté is also striking because buried in it all are issues still relevant today, factions still visible today, and methods that have come to shape the world we now live in. It's strangely precocious, if such a thing can be said about a book. Even when people are being beaten to death or shot, there's an odd sense of stylistic juxtaposition.
Bloodless, sexless, and largely clean of tongue, it is very nearly a pulp thriller for anyone to enjoy.
May 18, 2023
The most interesting thing about this ancient library-binding hardback* is that some long-ago (I assume) reader diligently scratched (with added saliva?) out some 3- and 4-letter words that a later reader tried to put back in (using green fountain pen ink). There are nearly as many plot holes as scratch-outs. Its chief attraction is showing where DEW began as a writer, so we can really appreciate where he ended up.
*Kind of like oilcloth, for those who remember what that was, a tiny palm-leaf pattern against a background in a brown that could best be described by one of those 4-letter words.
*Kind of like oilcloth, for those who remember what that was, a tiny palm-leaf pattern against a background in a brown that could best be described by one of those 4-letter words.
December 30, 2018
One of the amazing things about Westlake at his best is how he could create the implausible ways for our hero to get out of situations but which seem totally reasonable. Alas this is not one of those books, this is much earlier and not nearly as sophisticated as his later classics. The resolutions and execution of the set ups are a tad more pedestrian that classic Westlake.
Still the books have an easy charm and a fun sense and pretty likable characters. The writing is very clear the very logical.
Recommended as very enjoyable easy reading.
Still the books have an easy charm and a fun sense and pretty likable characters. The writing is very clear the very logical.
Recommended as very enjoyable easy reading.
April 23, 2025
Good to find old friend
I love Donald E. Westlake (and his alter, Evan Hunter, even if they write in completely different genres). It has probably been over 35 years since I read one of his books.
This is a delight. Younger readers can read it as science fiction, anyone older than maybe 60 will see the history.
This is the slapstick I remember from the mid last century. I can't think of a single author right now who gets my funny bone on every page.
Highly recommended for anyone of any age who wants a laugh on every page.
I love Donald E. Westlake (and his alter, Evan Hunter, even if they write in completely different genres). It has probably been over 35 years since I read one of his books.
This is a delight. Younger readers can read it as science fiction, anyone older than maybe 60 will see the history.
This is the slapstick I remember from the mid last century. I can't think of a single author right now who gets my funny bone on every page.
Highly recommended for anyone of any age who wants a laugh on every page.
July 29, 2018
I remember - something like 40 years ago! - lying in a rocking hammock on a sunny summer afternoon reading Dancing Aztecs. It was my first experience of Donald Westlake - borrowed from my mum - and I was hooked. By now, I have read pretty much all his comedy capers and I remain hooked. This book, which is a fairly early example, did not disappoint. The message is simple. It is not always easy being a pacifist.
September 24, 2021
A reluctant James Bond takes on a plot to blow up the UN. I think the idea of an ordinary person getting thrown into the world of super-spying has been done a few times since this book but it is a fun little romp, except the meeting scene goes on way too long. Cancel culture shouldn't read this because there are some anachronisms concerning race and geopolitics. You have to read it considering the context of the period in which it was written.
July 18, 2024
I Laughed All The Way Through...
Westlake is a master at writing humorous stories and engaging dialogue. Even though (as several have pointed out) the content is dated, it doesn't dilute the humor or the context of the story. More writers today could take a page from Westlake's book and understand that it's not always necessary to use 100 words when 10 will do. A great. read and an interesting take on the politics of the era.
Westlake is a master at writing humorous stories and engaging dialogue. Even though (as several have pointed out) the content is dated, it doesn't dilute the humor or the context of the story. More writers today could take a page from Westlake's book and understand that it's not always necessary to use 100 words when 10 will do. A great. read and an interesting take on the politics of the era.
April 21, 2025
Copyright date on this book is 1966, so I'm wondering how I never read it until now! It's a little dated, though appropriate for the time it was written (words like Negro, the kind of casual, oblivious misogyny of the time), but overall a funny, well written foray into the worlds of activist pacifism and terrorism.
Not that terrorism is funny, you understand, but. . . well, read it and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Not that terrorism is funny, you understand, but. . . well, read it and you'll see what I'm talking about.
April 21, 2020
Very funny, well written. Intended to be taken tongue in cheek and excels at it.
Has a touch of genuine sarcasm and makes fun, rightly so, of fanatics and those with grudges against systems, regimes past and present. In short pokes fun at all those who take themselves seriously. A latter day Scaramouch!
Excellent. Keeps you smiling as you turn the pages.
Has a touch of genuine sarcasm and makes fun, rightly so, of fanatics and those with grudges against systems, regimes past and present. In short pokes fun at all those who take themselves seriously. A latter day Scaramouch!
Excellent. Keeps you smiling as you turn the pages.
February 27, 2021
This was a fun and silly spoof and if you like Donald Westlake's books and have not yet read this one then perhaps you will appreciate his earlier work. I enjoyed the parallels to Get Smart, a TV series of about the same time that I found fun at the time and enjoyable to look back on. Also, I enjoy the retro vibe that took us back to a time when spy's did not seem as deadly or serious.
September 23, 2024
Like most Donald Westlake books, The Spy in the Ointment is laced with sublte irony and humor.
But to be honest, the only laugh I had was when Gene (the main character) described his girlfriend. The rest of what was supposed to be funny or ironic was merely smile-worthy.
Westlake writes a helluva good story, but these stand-alones don’t hold a candle to his Dormunder books.
But to be honest, the only laugh I had was when Gene (the main character) described his girlfriend. The rest of what was supposed to be funny or ironic was merely smile-worthy.
Westlake writes a helluva good story, but these stand-alones don’t hold a candle to his Dormunder books.
June 5, 2025
Lawrence Block must have styled his "Burglar" series after Westlake. Spy's protagonist is a smart-alack everyman similar to Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr.
I loved Westlake's similes and metaphors:
"...he blocked the doorway the way boulders block entrances to caves."
"...slid out of our grasp like mercury...."
"...smiling like a sly professor about to spring a surprise examination...."
I loved Westlake's similes and metaphors:
"...he blocked the doorway the way boulders block entrances to caves."
"...slid out of our grasp like mercury...."
"...smiling like a sly professor about to spring a surprise examination...."
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