Our Man in Havana

This book is not particularly my normal pick, but it was just so much fun!
Basically I find the whole idea of spies interesting, but I have issues with reading books that are heavily based on historical things, while assuming you are up to date with all those things. You need to understand the context, to know all the different events, people, important concepts and all. My knowledge usually isn't accurate and detailed enough to truly enjoy the thing.
I got recommended this one by my best friend who knows me more than almost anyone, though, so I knew it wasn't going to be something that I couldn't relate to at all.

The reason for that is that the story is really focused on the protagonists and not the society-wide implications of his deeds, while they also fit into a very specific time period and situation. Basically Mr. Wormold is a British man selling vacuum cleaners in Cuba, living with his manipulator of a teen daughter, being exceptionally mundane. Of course he worries about money to provide for the girl, so when a stranger shows up to turn him into an informant, he decides to go with it.
Now he is not a born spy, right? So he starts creating fake reports, sending in drawings of vacuum cleaners as some secret weapon. He eventually even gets an assistant, a charming lady.
Things get messed up as much as they can, making Wormold's life even more complicated.

The whole thing was just so entertaining in its messed up way. A little person, one who has absolutely no grand aspirations to be more than what he is gets turned into an extremely trusted agent, whose bosses put way too much faith into all the random lies he comes up with. That is something I enjoy; the reluctant person you can feel for, who makes you laugh in an emphatic way.

Again, not really sure what else to say about the book, it's just hard to review something that is so far from my usual picks, so I can't really even compare it to anything else. It was fun, though, which was what I needed right now. Dark comedy is something I love, so I guess this was a great book for me to connect something foreign to me with something I actually know and enjoy.

Have a nice day and keep your head down!