«"I often quote Graham Greene – 'the credit balance of the writer is his childhood' – and in that sense I was a millionaire."»
—David Cornwell, best known as John le Carré, before the BBC.
Graham Greene, too, was a spy, among other things.
(You have read _The Human Factor_ and _Our Man in Havana_, haven't you?)
And here is a fragment from John le Carré's _Smiley's People_, where Smiley finds Esterhase in his element as a shady art dealer.
SMILEY (examining the underside of a bronze statuette)
Toby, if this is a Degas, shouldn't it be numbered?
ESTERHASE
Degas, George... Degas is a very gray area.
***
Oh, and do read _The Looking-Glass War_.
BBC article:
'His life was one of fantasy': How John le Carré's spy novels were shaped by his con-man father
<https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260619-how-john-le-carrs-spy-novels-were-shaped-by-his-con-man-father>
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