The pigeon tunnel: Stories from my life, by John LeCarre

John LeCarre, the pen name of David Cornwell, has written classic spy novels for most of his long life – he’s now 86 and published this memoir about two years ago.  His books, and the movies and TV series that have been made from them,  are justifiably celebrated.  If anything, his long life has been more interesting and surprising than anything in his novels.  Some of these pieces are short vignettes.  The longest, Son of his author’s father, the most intriguing of the lot, is 35 pages long.  I originally read it when it appeared in the New Yorker and it piqued my interest in this collection.  Ronnie Cornwell, David’s father, was a conman extraordinaire.  The family lived in both small houses and grand ones – the move to the former from the latter often done in haste and the dead of the night.  He was a charmer who traveled the world, often with creditors and police just a few steps behind.  David’s mother left in the dead of the night also, when the author was very young, and the author didn’t find her and get in touch until his twenties. He still has unanswered questions about both his parents.  And yes, he really was a spy.  This is just one of the fascinating 38 pieces.  307 pp.