Littell, Robert 1935–

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Littell, Robert 1935–

PERSONAL:

Born January 8, 1935, in the Brooklyn, NY; married; children: two sons. Education: Graduated from Alfred University, 1956.

CAREER:

Writer. Former Eastern Europe and Soviet affairs editor for Newsweek. Military service: U.S. Naval Reserve; became lieutenant junior grade.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first mystery novel from Mystery Writers of America, Gold Dagger Award from Crime Writers Association, and Critics Award (England), all 1974, all for The Defection of A.J. Lewinter; Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Mystery/Thriller, 2006, for Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1973.

Sweet Reason, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1974.

The October Circle, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1975.

Mother Russia, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1978.

The Debriefing, Harper (New York, NY), 1979.

The Amateur, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1981.

The Sisters, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.

The Revolutionist, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

The Once and Future Spy, Bantam (New York, NY), 1990.

An Agent in Place, Bantam (New York, NY), 1991.

The Visiting Professor, Faber (London, England), 1993, Random House (New York, NY), 1994.

Walking Back the Cat, Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

The Company: A Novel of the CIA, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 2002.

Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 2005.

Vicious Circle: A Novel of Complicity, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 2006.

OTHER

(Editor) The Czech Black Book (translation of Sedm prazskych dnu,), Praeger (New York, NY), 1969.

(With Richard Z. Chesnoff and Edward Klein) If Israel Lost the War, Coward-McCann (New York, NY), 1969.

(With Diana Maddox) The Amateur (screenplay; based on Littell's novel of the same title), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1982.

(With Shimon Peres) For the Future of Israel, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1998.

Also author of four other screenplays.

SIDELIGHTS:

Robert Littell is "one of the best writers" of his genre, according to George Kelley in the St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers. He is the author of more than ten novels and a number of screenplays, and has collaborated with other writers on nonfiction works as well.

While working as an Eastern Europe and Soviet affairs editor for Newsweek, Littell edited the translation of a series of reports and testimonies detailing the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Published as The Czech Black Book, the material was collated privately by historians of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. The book records—through newspaper reports, public resolutions, radio and television broadcasts, posters, and cartoons—the seven days from August 21 through August 27, when more than five hundred thousand Soviet and satellite troops occupied Czechoslovakia and met with staunch citizen resistance. New York Times critic Christopher Lehmann-Haupt determined that the book would prove "useful as a reference work," and Tad Szulc, writing in the New York Times Book Review, declared the volume a "precious contribution" to other literature on the history of Czechoslovakia.

In 1970 Littell left his post with Newsweek to become a novelist and moved to France with his wife and two small sons. The Defection of A.J. Lewinter was the first result of his labors, and it quickly garnered critical and popular acclaim. In the novel, Littell calls upon his expertise in Soviet affairs to weave a suspense tale about an American missile engineer who defects to the Russians. An elaborate power play ensues when both countries—and the reader—are introduced to the likelihood that "A.J. Lewinter" is a hoax. A Spectator reviewer described The Defection of A.J. Lewinter as making the point that "all the mayhem of intelligence work relates … to the rules of the intelligence game itself."

Littell followed The Defection of A.J. Lewinter with Sweet Reason, a black comedy describing a U.S. Navy destroyer's tour of duty off the coast of an unnamed Asian country. The book attempts to expose, according to Lehmann-Haupt, the absurdities of modern, Vietnam-type warfare. The New York Times critic found the novel to be "considerably less than profound." David Wilson wrote in a review for the Times Literary Supplement, that, while the novel is at times funny and sharp-witted, altogether it is an awkward combination of "dry satire and knockabout farce."

Returning to his sphere of political expertise, Littell next wrote The October Circle, a novel about a group of Bulgarian expartisans who protest the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Alarmed Bulgarian Party bureaucrats begin to "erase the events staged by the circle," and even begin eliminating members of the group as well, a reviewer explained in Newsweek. Overall, critics responded favorably to Littell's story, despite its dark premise. Christian Science Monitor contributor Diana Rowan noted that The October Circle is a sharp and "entertaining adventure."

Lehmann-Haupt said that while the plot of The October Circle seems typical of other novels written during or about the Cold War, "the images in which the story unfolds is something else." A Newsweek critic expressed similar satisfaction, lauding the novel's "constantly surprising imagery." And Marvin Levin, writing about The October Circle in the New York Times Book Review, concluded that the author's technique is "impressionistic."

In talking to journalist and Chicago Tribune Book World contributor Helen Dudar about his next novel, Mother Russia, Littell acknowledged that this was the book that almost finished his writer's life in France. "Financially, I was down to the wire," he stated in a Chicago Tribune Book World interview. The author recalled that publisher Harcourt Brace Jovanovich did little to promote the book and that, despite excellent reviews, the novel was virtually without sales. A black comedy that examines social and political deviants in the Soviet Union, Mother Russia introduces Robespierre Isayevich Pravdin, an imaginative hustler who is enlisted by the KGB to help destroy a Nobel Prize-winning Soviet writer's reputation. Littell has "tackled the absurdities of the police state," in his other works, wrote contributor James N. Baker in a review for Newsweek, "but never more effectively" than with this work.

The commercial success of The Debriefing salvaged Littell's novel-writing aspirations. Similar to The Defection of A.J. Lewinter in plot and spirit, the novel deals with a Cold War defector, this time a Russian whose American debriefing officer must penetrate Russia to investigate whether his charge is real or "planted." Critic Newgate Callendar, reviewing the novel for the New York Times Book Review, called it "superior entertainment." Similarly, Newsweek contributor Walter Clemons declared that the author has written the novel with "elegance."

Even greater critical and commercial success met Littell's sixth fiction offering, The Amateur, which introduces Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptologist bent on avenging his fiancée's murder by West German terrorists. When Heller's superiors refuse to support his assassination plans, he blackmails them into providing token field training and assistance; yet they, along with the terrorists, want him dead. Critic Anatole Broyard wrote in the New York Times that part of The Amateur's appeal is the fact that "its hero is an amateur in a world of professionals."

The Sisters is regarded by some critics as the author's best novel. The book introduces two CIA covert operation agents dubbed "the sisters." When they discover a Soviet "sleeper," an undercover agent who lives normally until called upon to conduct a mission, the sisters decide "to use the agent," Kelley explained, "to commit a crime for which the Russians will be blamed." Meanwhile, the Russians know that their sleeper spy has been compromised and they move to remedy the situation. Critic Peter Andrews, writing in the New York Times Book Review, called The Sisters "slick." Writing in the New York Review of Books, contributor Thomas R. Edwards found that with The Sisters, Littell demonstrates a strong "imagination." The Sisters, Kelley concluded, is a "classic spy novel."

Littell's next novel was 1988's The Revolutionist. In this tale of the Russian Revolution, some of the characters and events from the author's other novels return. The novel follows the life of Alexander Til, who leaves America in 1917 to participate in the Russian Revolution. The author "captures the senseless brutality of the system," observed Kelley.

In Walking Back the Cat Littell posits a Soviet deep-cover operation set up during the Cold War on a New Mexican Indian reservation and only now activated to begin assassinating a series of Americans. Mafia manipulation of the tribe's casino operations complicates efforts to uncover the Soviet operation and its ultimate purpose. "Playful characterizations" propel the reader forward through a complex storyline, noted one Publishers Weekly critic.

Littell's most commercially successful book to date is The Company: A Novel of the CIA, which was a best-seller in the summer of 2002. The sweeping narrative covers fifty years of CIA operations, from Berlin at the outset of the Cold War to the end of the century. Littell mixes true events and historic figures with fictional characters—three CIA agents and a KGB operative—in a story that weighs the moral and personal implications of espionage. One Publishers Weekly reviewer characterized The Company as "gung-ho, hard-drinking, table-turning fun." In a review for the New York Times Book Review, contributor James J. Uebbing concluded that "there is plenty here to amuse anyone."

In 2006 Littell published another novel, Vicious Circle: A Novel of Complicity, set in the Middle East. The plot focuses on Rabbi Isaac Apfulbaum, who is taken hostage by an Islamic Fundamentalist doctor just days before Arab and Israeli representatives are set to sign an unprecedented agreement. Government officials and various spies are called in to help broker an agreement, and tension is high because of the stakes at hand. In the meantime, the rabbi and doctor are surprised by the unexpected bond they feel toward each other. Critics lauded Littell for his work on the novel overall, citing its fairness toward entities polarized by politics and religion. Vicious Circle is a "sharply observed, remarkably evenhanded" book, remarked one Kirkus Reviews contributor. Others commented on the author's ability to combine disparate elements into one story deftly. The novel demonstrates a compelling combination of "stark beauty and ugliness," wrote Booklist contributor David Wright.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 42, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1987.

St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

PERIODICALS

America, May 3, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 546; June 2, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 522.

American Libraries, January, 1986, review of The Sisters, p. 10; February, 2002, Bill Ott, review of The Company: A Novel of the CIA, p. 65.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, September, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 202.

Armchair Detective, spring, 1993, review of An Agent in Place, p. 13.

Best Sellers, April 1, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 7; May 15, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 92; October, 1978, review of Mother Russia, p. 205; July, 1979, review of The Debriefing, p. 125.

Book, November, 2002, review of The Company, p. 56.

Booklist, January 1, 1976, review of The October Circle, p. 614; May 15, 1978, review of Mother Russia, p. 1476; May 15, 1979, review of The Debriefing, p. 1423; March 15, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 999; November 15, 1985, review of The Sisters, p. 450; February 1, 1988, review of The Revolutionist, p. 889; April 1, 1990, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 1505; January 1, 1994, Denise Perry Donavin, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 806; May 15, 1997, Bill Ott, review of Walking Back the Cat, p. 1567; February 1, 2002, Bill Ott, review of The Company, p. 927; May 1, 2005, David Wright, review of Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation, p. 1528; August 1, 2006, David Wright, review of Vicious Circle: A Novel of Complicity, p. 51.

BookPage, May, 2002, review of The Company, p. 9; September, 2002, review of The Company, p. 23.

Books, August, 1988, review of The Revolutionist, p. 20; September, 1991, review of An Agent in Place, p. 22; September, 1992, review of An Agent in Place, p. 26; November, 1993, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 25; spring, 2003, review of The Company, p. 20.

Bookseller, July 26, 2002, Philip Jones, review of The Company, p. 35.

Books of the Times, July, 1979, review of The Debriefing, p. 313; August, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 348.

Book World, March 30, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 7; March 25, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 15; March 31, 1974, review of Sweet Reason, p. 4; August 2, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 10; March 2, 1986, review of The Sisters, p. 1; December 15, 1991, review of An Agent in Place, p. 7; May 15, 1994, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 4; April 14, 2002, review of The Company, p. 1; March 16, 2003, review of The Company, p. 11; April 20, 2003, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 10.

British Book News, January, 1982, review of The Amateur, p. 8.

Chicago Tribune Book World, November 25, 1979, Helen Dudar, "Behind the Cover," p. 2.

CHOICE, May, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 420.

Christian Science Monitor, November 6, 1969, "Gaston's Ghastly Green Thumb," p. 3; May 9, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 10; March 22, 1976, review of The October Circle, p. 22; June 29, 1979, Joel Rosenkranz, review of The Debriefing, p. 19.

Drood Review of Mystery, May, 2002, review of The Company, p. 16.

Economist, August 30, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 39; August 10, 2002, review of The Company.

Encounter, October, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 73.

Entertainment Weekly, May 17, 2002, "The Week," p. 68.

Esquire, May, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 66.

Globe & Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), July 13, 2002, review of The Company, p. 15; April 5, 2003, review of The Company, p. 21.

Guardian Weekly, June 26, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 16; December 29, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 17.

Harper's, October, 2006, John Leonard, review of Vicious Circle, p. 79.

January Magazine, May, 2005, Ali Karim, "Robert Littell: A Legend in His Own Time."

Journal of Politics, November, 1970, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 1015.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 20; December 15, 1973, review of Sweet Reason, p. 1376; November 1, 1975, review of The October Circle, p. 1252; April 1, 1978, review of Mother Russia, p. 390; May 15, 1979, review of The Debriefing, p. 594; February 1, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 163; March 1, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 290; December 1, 1985, review of The Sisters, p. 1281; February 15, 1988, review of The Revolutionist, p. 230; March 15, 1990, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 369; January 1, 1994, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 11; May 1, 1997, review of Walking Back the Cat, p. 666; January 1, 2002, review of The Company, p. 11; March 15, 2005, review of Legends, p. 308; July 15, 2006, review of Vicious Circle, p. 693.

Kliatt, spring, 1977, review of The October Circle, p. 6; spring, 1981, review of The Debriefing, p. 10; spring, 1982, review of The Amateur, p. 13; January, 1990, review of The Revolutionist, p. 12; July, 2003, review of Walking Back the Cat, p. 6; January, 2004, Susan Offner, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 46; July, 2004, John E. Boyd, review of The Sisters, p. 56.

Ladies' Home Journal, September, 1979, Carol Eisen Rinzler, review of The Debriefing, p. 7.

Library Journal, May 1, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 1885; March 15, 1970, review of Left and Right with Lion and Ryan, p. 1188; January 1, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 87; January 1, 1974, review of Sweet Reason, p. 66; November 15, 1975, review of The October Circle, p. 2173; May 15, 1978, review of Mother Russia, p. 1082; July 1979, review of The Debriefing, p. 1489; May 1, 1981, Robin W. Winks, review of The Amateur, p. 994; February 1, 1986, Barbara Conaty, review of The Sisters, p. 93; May 1, 1988, Ann Donovan, review of The Revolutionist, p. 90; January, 1994, Cynthia Johnson, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 163; May 1, 1997, David Keymer, review of Walking Back the Cat, p. 141; December, 2001, Barbara Conaty, review of The Company, p. 173; January, 2003, Michael Rogers, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 166; April 1, 2003, Mark Pumphrey, review of The Company, p. 148; May 15, 2003, Michael Rogers, review of The Sisters, p. 134; December, 2003, Michael Rogers, review of The Amateur and The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 174; August, 2004, Michael Rogers, review of The Debriefing, p. 131; October 15, 2006, Barbara Conaty, review of Vicious Circle, p. 53.

Listener, January 10, 1980, review of The Debriefing, p. 62; April 17, 1986, review of The Sisters, p. 29.

Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2002, review of The Company, p. 11.

MBR Bookwatch, September, 2005, Diane C. Donovan, review of Legends.

New Leader, June 23, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 21; May-June, 2005, Tova Reich, review of Legends, p. 40.

New Republic, May 30, 1981, reviews of The Amateur and The Debriefing, p. 38.

New Statesman, June 25, 1976, review of The October Circle, p. 856.

Newsweek, March 12, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 94; February 18, 1974, review of Sweet Reason, p. 99; January 19, 1976, review of The October Circle, p. 74; July 3, 1978, James N. Baker, review of Mother Russia, p. 79; July 23, 1979, Walter Clemons, review of The Debriefing, p. 77; March 10, 1986, Peter S. Prescott, review of The Sisters, p. 76; May 13, 2002, Andrew Nagorski, review of The Company, p. 55.

New Yorker, June 13, 2005, John Updike, review of Legends, p. 174.

New York Review of Books, May 8, 1986, Thomas R. Edwards, review of The Sisters, p. 12.

New York Times, April 28, 1969, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 39; February 15, 1973, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 41; February 20, 1974, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of Sweet Reason, p. 35; February 13, 1976, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of The October Circle, p. 31; July 2, 1979, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of An Agent in Place, p. 15; September 2, 1979, Newgate Callendar, review of The Debriefing, p. 21; March 15, 1981, review of The Debriefing, p. 35; May 10, 1981, Michael Malone, review of The Amateur, p. 15; May 13, 1981, Anatole Broyard, review of The Amateur, p. 17; January 31, 1982, review of The Amateur, p. 31; January 30, 1986, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of The Sisters, p. 23; February 2, 1986, Peter Andrews, review of The Sisters, p. 9; May 26, 1988, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of The Revolutionist, p. 16; May 5, 1990, Herbert Mitgang, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 12; December 4, 1991, Herbert Mitgang, review of An Agent in Place, p. 2.

New York Times Book Review, May 4, 1969, Tad Szulc, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 3; March 4, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 42; February 15, 1976, Martin Levin, review of The October Circle, p. 20; September 2, 1979, Newgate Callendar, review of The Debriefing, p. 21; March 15, 1981, review of The Debriefing, p. 35; May 10, 1981, Michael Malone, review of The Amateur, p. 15; January 31, 1982, review of The Amateur, p. 31; February 2, 1986, Peter Andrews, review of The Sisters, p. 9; May 22, 1988, Meredith Tax, review of The Revolutionist, p. 20; May 27, 1990, Newgate Callender, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 27; August 11, 1991, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 28; December 29, 1991, Newgate Callender, review of An Agent in Place, p. 23; August 3, 1997, James F. Clarity, review of Walking Back the Cat, p. 16; May 12, 2002, James J. Uebbing, review of The Company, p. 25; August 21, 2005, Neil Gordon, review of Legends.

Observer (London, England), June 22, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 26; September 23, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 36; March 23, 1975, review of Sweet Reason, p. 30; June 13, 1976, review of The October Circle, p. 27; December 12, 1976, review of The October Circle, p. 26; March 6, 1977, review of Sweet Reason, p. 29; August 16, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 23; March 23, 1986, review of The Sisters, p. 26; June 10, 1990, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 54; June 17, 1990, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 59; June 30, 1991, review of An Agent in Place, p. 52; December 5, 1993, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 22; January 22, 1995, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 21; November 17, 2002, review of The Company, p. 19; December 29, 2002, review of The Company, p. 16.

People Weekly, June 8, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 24; April 28, 1986, Campbell Geeslin, review of The Sisters, p. 17; June 28, 2004, "The Men We Became," p. 51.

Philadelphia Inquirer, July 5, 2005, Sandy Bauers, review of Legends.

Publishers Weekly, February 10, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 67; May 12, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 61; November 26, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 39; December 31, 1973, review of Sweet Reason, p. 22; November 17, 1975, review of The October Circle, p. 94; March 27, 1978, review of Mother Russia, p. 66; May 14, 1979, review of The Debriefing, p. 205; January 9, 1981, review of The Debriefing, p. 72; March 13, 1981, Barbara A. Bannon, review of The Amateur, p. 75; December 18, 1981, review of The Amateur, p. 69; November 29, 1985, Sybil Steinberg, review of The Sisters, p. 37; April 22, 1988, Sybil Steinberg, review of The Revolutionist, p. 62; April 20, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 57; January 3, 1994, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 69; May 12, 1997, review of Walking Back the Cat, p. 57; March 23, 1998, review of For the Future of Israel, p. 85; February 18, 2002, review of The Company, p. 71; November 18, 2002, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 44; April 14, 2003, review of The Sisters, p. 51; June 2, 2003, review of The Sisters, p. 34; May 23, 2005, review of Legends, p. 59; August 1, 2005, review of Legends, p. 61; July 31, 2006, review of Vicious Circle, p. 51.

Reason, January, 1989, Martin Morse Wooster, review of The Revolutionist, p. 52.

Rolling Stone, March 11, 1976, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 73.

Saturday Review, March 29, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 21.

Spectator, September 15, 1973, review of The Defection of A.J. Lewinter, p. 346.

Times Educational Supplement, December 3, 1993, Brian Morton, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 28.

Times Literary Supplement, July 24, 1969, review of The Czech Black Book, p. 796; May 2, 1975, David Wilson, review of Sweet Reason, p. 492; July 23, 1976, review of The October Circle, p. 905; January 29, 1982, review of The Amateur, p. 104; February 5, 1982, review of The Amateur, p. 147; June 14, 1991, Savkar Altinel, review of An Agent in Place, p. 26; December 3, 1993, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 20; March 8, 1996, review of Walking Back the Cat, p. 24; April 4, 2003, Alex Danchev, review of The Company, p. 21.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), April 17, 1988, review of The Revolutionist, p. 7; May 27, 1990, review of The Once and Future Spy, p. 4; March 20, 1994, review of The Visiting Professor, p. 7; May 4, 2003, review of The Company, p. 6.

Wall Street Journal, June 13, 1988, Martin Morse Wooster, review of The Revolutionist, p. 13.

Washington Post, August 11, 1979, Rod MacLeish, review of The Debriefing, p. 3.

West Coast Review of Books, September, 1978, review of Mother Russia, p. 36.