Little America [Paperback]

Henry Bromell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2002

In this suspenseful and atmospheric spy novel in the tradition of Graham Greene and John le Carr, Henry Bromell unfolds a labyrinthine tale of intrigue and moral ambiguity.

In 1958, at the height of the Cold War, CIA agent Mack Hooper arrived in the tiny middle-eastern kingdom of Kurash with a mission to befriend and protect its inexperienced young ruler. Now, forty years later, the country no longer exists and Mack’s son Terry is trying to piece together his father’s story. Was he a friend to the young king, or a diplomat-seducer sent to betray him? And what happened to the lost kingdom? Moving deftly between the feudal world of Kurash and the martini-washed enclaves of the American spies, Little America is a riveting and unexpectedly moving tale of honor and betrayal as well as a brilliant evocation of espionage in the darkest days of the Cold War.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"We grew up in places like Georgetown and Alexandria and Chevy Chase; we were flown in great thumping silver Pan American airplanes all the way to Rome, all the way to Greece, Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Hamra, Cairo; we went to American Community Schools; we spent weekends swimming at the American Club." The "we" in question in this clever, unlikely take on an espionage thriller is that peculiar subgroup of expatriates, the children of American diplomats and spies in their postings around the world in the high-water mark of Pax Americana, the late '50s. Terry Hooper is a historian whose father, Mack Hooper, served as CIA station chief in Hamra, Kurash, in 1958 Kurash, a mythical Mideastern kingdom, collapsed after the unsolved assassination of its king in December 1958. Terry's interest in this distant event is stirred by a news item reporting that the king was, at that time, receiving secret payments from the CIA. Terry's quest to find out what really happened in 1958, and whether, in the direst scenario, his father planned the king's assassination, takes him to Boston to interview his father and his mother; to Georgetown to interview other living members attached to the Hamra station; and finally to Rome, to track down a mysterious "Emily," who Terry suspects was his father's mistress. There are present-day mysteries in the Hooper household, too for instance, Terry wants to know why his mother and father live in separate apartments. The story has the twists of an espionage thriller wrapped in the rites of a Cheeverish WASP culture of booze, cigarettes and repressed emotion. Bromell (The Slightest Distance), producer of the quirkily literate TV show Northern Exposure, will gratify his fans with this bemused deconstruction of the spy myth.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Set in fictional Kurash near Iraq, this is a walloping good story offering many layers of enjoyment. The most satisfying is a son's quest for the truth of his father's involvement as a CIA operative in the 1958 assassination of the Kurash king. Loving his father but suspecting duplicity, he badgers the man to break the code of silence. On another level, the story is a political thriller of the Cold War and its effects in the volatile Middle East. The Dulles brothers, heading the State Department and the CIA, play cameo roles. Finally, the novel re-creates American life of the 1950s, now perceived to be dull as dishwater, through the eyes of the edgy 1990s. Together, these layers bring Bromell, who won the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award for his first novel, The Slightest Distance (1974), and who writes and produces for television and the movies, to the short list of authors whose new works are eagerly awaited. The great themes of personal honor and lost youth are evoked with great skill, compassion, and an aching sense of melancholy. For all public libraries.
- Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375718915
• ISBN-13: 978-0375718915
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for a book club, October 1, 2001

By 

T. J. Mathews (Livermore, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little America (Hardcover)

`Little America' has three main story lines, each of which is engrossing and provides a lot of fodder for discussions. In other words, it's a great choice for a book club.

First is the 'Who's your daddy?' line, set in the present, in which Terry Hooper, the adult son of a former CIA operative, tries to find out what kind of person his father was. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? At first glance this appears to be the main story in the book but I think it serves more as a catalyst to keep the story going.

The second story line is the most fascinating and has the potential to generate a good deal of debate. Set in 1958, it revolves around the friendship that develops between the CIA operative and the young king of Kurash, the subject of his mission. Is it real or just part of his assignment? If it's real, which will win out, friendship or 'duty'? What impact will it have on the characters involved?

The third story line in `Little America' became frighteningly relevant after what occurred when I was about halfway through it (Sept. 11). It looks at American foreign policy through the eyes of Allen and John Foster Dulles. It expresses almost as aptly as 'The Ugly American' how totally clueless we can be when it comes to seeing the world through the eyes of others. Bromell, in a novel based in the 1950s, provides insight into how we might best respond in the current crisis.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A vanished world made luminous, July 8, 2001

By 

Larry Dilg (Van Nuys, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little America (Hardcover)

The mysteries at the heart of Little America will keep readers turning pages, but the melancholy soul of its narrator is what endures. By researching the fall and disappearance of a desert kingdom, Terry hopes to penetrate the iron curtain that separated him from the father he saw but never knew. In the process, he tries to claim some integrity for himself in a world of failed gestures, conflicted loyalties, and ambiguous circumstances. Henry Bromell has a wonderful feeling for the self-hatred that accompanies "the nostalgia of defeat." Arabs and Americans alike are portrayed with complexity and sympathy; nobody escapes scot-free. The plot is beautifully constructed but even more impressive is the grace with which Henry shifts from past to present narratives. There are several outstanding moments when the narrator's acuity of perception and depth of feeling mesh perfectly, as when Terry describes a girl playing tennis or when he is overwhelmed by forgiveness and love. The politics of the book are particularly timely - the shadows of Palestine and Iraq never entirely fade from the shifting sands of his narrative. The particularly heinous behavior of the Dulles brothers remind us forcefully of the arrogance that has so often accompanied American power. In the end, Terry's father relies more on patience, trust, and even love than he does on poisoned handkerchiefs and coded messages. Would that there were more like him! This is that rare book that satisfies on many fronts - political, literary, and emotional. Read it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INTRIGUE AND MYSTERY TO THE MAX, July 6, 2001

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little America (Hardcover)

Californian Henry Bromell uses international intrigue and a vexing family mystery as linchpins in his cleverly plotted novel, "Little America." One might expect a slightly quirky take from the writer/producer/director of the popular offbeat TV series "Northern Exposure." We're not disappointed.

What matters history, personal or global? Readers may decide for themselves as they follow the path of history teacher Terry Hooper while he pries into past lives and navigates the globe in an attempt to discover the truth about his father, Mack. Terry is interested in "what happens inside history, what history hides, what gets left out and what is forgotten."

The elder Hooper, a C.I.A station chief in a Middle Eastern country during the 1950s, was charged with the most diplomatic of tasks - ingratiating himself with the King of Kurash, a cold, inaccessible desert monarch. The King was killed at the age of 23.

Years later, when Terry reads a newspaper article stating that a C.I.A. official carried cash to the young King and a book stating that the King was assassinated by U.S. agents, Terry wonders about his father's involvement, if any, in these crimes. Thus, begins a quest that reveals the past and probes the present.

Once again, Henry Bromell proves his mettle as a stellar producer of first-rate entertainment.