The Houseguests A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery Mark Lijek 9781480225381 Books
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The movie Argo was fake before it was real. This is the story of the original Argo and of the six Americans who escaped the capture of the American Embassy in Iran in 1979. Lijek, one of the six, explains why they were in Iran, what went wrong and how they managed to escape the embassy compound. As chaos increasingly gripped Iran and its government fell, the Americans survived tension-filled days before reaching sanctuary with the Canadians. Then came an emotional roller-coaster ride, long days of boredom punctuated by nerve-wracking episodes, against the background of concern for their hostage colleagues and fear Washington had forgotten them. Finally the excitement of Argo, the arrival of CIA operative Tony Mendez and his daring scheme to exfiltrate the "houseguests," as they were called in secret communications between Tehran, Ottawa and Washington. Lijek explains how the six reacted to the CIA's "best bad idea" and what it was like to exit the airport with false papers, hoping the plan would work as advertised. He presents an overview of the years that followed, during which they repeatedly lied to hide the CIA's participation. He ends with the controversy that erupted when the CIA announced its role and continues to this day, as what had been the "Canadian Caper" became something else, at least in the eyes of many.
The Houseguests A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery Mark Lijek 9781480225381 Books
I would recommend this book only to those who have a specific interest in the subject. I happen to, as I lived in Tehran during that period and followed the events chronicled closely then and afterwards. For readers who saw the movie "Argo", this provides a good inside view of what the six escapees went through during their time in hiding and fleshes out many details missing from the movie. The author is not an experienced writer, however, so the book plods at times and wastes a lot of time on extraneous details about his career before and after that are irrelevant to the story. It reads more like a diary than a structured account of the escape. I suspect it was written over a period of years as an account of his career and only later adapted to focus on the escapee drama after the movie "Argo" came out and the author thought people might be interested in the sub-plot to the main hostage crisis. Up until that time, the fate of the six was subordinate to the fate of the hostages. So the book does not cut to the chase in the way you would hope. Nevertheless, it is an excellent source of background material for those interested in this subject.I picked the book up for a specific reason: I wanted to know if the "Argo" deception was ever actually used. Both Bob Mendez' books and "Our Man in Tehran" waffle on this point. This account makes it clear that it was not. So, while "Argo" was a nice story, it's not really true. The six walked through immigration at Tehran airport and were not questioned at passport control. The ending to the movie was therefore pure Hollywood.
This is germane to a second debate: who deserves more credit for the escape -- the Canadians or the CIA? This has been contentious at times. The author goes to great lengths to stress that most of the credit goes to the Canadians, and that the CIA played a minor role in the rescue, despite their elaborate ruse. The "Argo" movie was a great cover story, but never came into play. It was the efforts of the Canadians that got them out of Iran. This does not detract from the interest of the narrative.
It is unfortunate that the author was a new hire of the Foreign Service who had just been sent out on his first assignment. As a junior employee, he knew little about the State Department or Iran, and hardly anybody at the embassy, when he was thrown into the eye of the storm. As a result, his account lacks context. It reads a little like "The Innocents Abroad". It lacks a good feel for the culture of the country or the politics of the situation. The author knew hardly any Iranians and only a few expat foreigners. Nevertheless, his book is a useful first-hand account of a dramatic and important event in our history.
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Tags : The Houseguests: A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery [Mark Lijek] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The movie Argo was fake before it was real. This is the story of the original Argo and of the six Americans who escaped the capture of the American Embassy in Iran in 1979. Lijek,Mark Lijek,The Houseguests: A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,148022538X,HISTORY Middle East General
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The Houseguests A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery Mark Lijek 9781480225381 Books Reviews
Having recently watched the movie, Argo, I was interested to read this book and find out more of the detail behind the story of the foreign service officers who evaded capture by the terrorists who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and eventually escaped from Iran with the help of the Canadians and the CIA. As a Foreign Service Officer myself, I also enjoyed reading about the author's experience joining the Foreign Service and his early days in Iran (before the Embassy takeover). The book gives details of the story not shown in the movie and makes clearer the bravery of the Canadian diplomats who enabled this small group of Americans to stay hidden and eventually make their way safely home. I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in this part of the world or this phase in U.S. history - as well anyone with a connection to/interest in the U.S. Foreign Service.
A small inaccuracy in the book the Commercial Cone was moved to the Department of Commerce, as the author notes. However, Commercial Officers are fully commissioned Foreign Service Officers, not civil servants.
I also read the other book (by Mendez) about this escape, and it reads like it was made to accompany the movie. Even though Mendez was there, he keeps everything at a distance.By contrast, this is a true memoir. It doesn't take long to feel you too are in 1979 Tehran. I'd recommend reading the Wired article by Joshuah Bearman (see note) for an overview and then reading this book. Well worth the money.
(Note) How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans From Tehran , 2007 at wired dot com.
I really enjoyed this book. I admit my interest was sparked by the release of the movie, and I thought it would be interesting to read some more of the history before seeing the movie. There is quite a bit of "running start" in this book about training for positions at the embassy, relocation, etc., which may sound like it would be slow. Actually, it not only provided a chance to become involved in the characters, it set a great context for the remaining phases of the story. I found the discussion about life at the embassy, and the exploration of the neighborhoods and region fascinating. The author clearly has his own personal views of the politics leading up to the embassy take-over, and he is very clear in identifying them as personal opinions. Rather than being annoying, this actually made the story feel even more like the author was sitting with you and telling the story. Although we all know from the start how the story is going to end, it kept my attention and interest with each step. I would definitely recommend this book.
How do you recount one of the most frightening experiences of your life without engaging in self-pity or bitter condemnation of the folks that caused the misery? Well, you start by reading Mark Lijek's book and understanding that he has recounted the events with both the personal experience of being an eye witness, but also a honest observer delivering the rest of the story and events surrounding the invasion of the U.S. emabassy in Iran by terrorists. Importantly, I think Mr. Lijek was also trying to let the world know that Canadian diplomat John and his wife Zena Sheardown were as brave and responsible for the safety of the "housguests" as the Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and his wife Pat. It's a good read and a great story!
I would recommend this book only to those who have a specific interest in the subject. I happen to, as I lived in Tehran during that period and followed the events chronicled closely then and afterwards. For readers who saw the movie "Argo", this provides a good inside view of what the six escapees went through during their time in hiding and fleshes out many details missing from the movie. The author is not an experienced writer, however, so the book plods at times and wastes a lot of time on extraneous details about his career before and after that are irrelevant to the story. It reads more like a diary than a structured account of the escape. I suspect it was written over a period of years as an account of his career and only later adapted to focus on the escapee drama after the movie "Argo" came out and the author thought people might be interested in the sub-plot to the main hostage crisis. Up until that time, the fate of the six was subordinate to the fate of the hostages. So the book does not cut to the chase in the way you would hope. Nevertheless, it is an excellent source of background material for those interested in this subject.
I picked the book up for a specific reason I wanted to know if the "Argo" deception was ever actually used. Both Bob Mendez' books and "Our Man in Tehran" waffle on this point. This account makes it clear that it was not. So, while "Argo" was a nice story, it's not really true. The six walked through immigration at Tehran airport and were not questioned at passport control. The ending to the movie was therefore pure Hollywood.
This is germane to a second debate who deserves more credit for the escape -- the Canadians or the CIA? This has been contentious at times. The author goes to great lengths to stress that most of the credit goes to the Canadians, and that the CIA played a minor role in the rescue, despite their elaborate ruse. The "Argo" movie was a great cover story, but never came into play. It was the efforts of the Canadians that got them out of Iran. This does not detract from the interest of the narrative.
It is unfortunate that the author was a new hire of the Foreign Service who had just been sent out on his first assignment. As a junior employee, he knew little about the State Department or Iran, and hardly anybody at the embassy, when he was thrown into the eye of the storm. As a result, his account lacks context. It reads a little like "The Innocents Abroad". It lacks a good feel for the culture of the country or the politics of the situation. The author knew hardly any Iranians and only a few expat foreigners. Nevertheless, his book is a useful first-hand account of a dramatic and important event in our history.
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