The Flower Man's Daughter.

• Author: Cook, Barbara Kreitz
• Position: Book review

The Flower Man's Daughter

By Jack Sobel

This Michener-style fact and fiction novel takes on the story of alleged CIA involvement in the violent 1970s overthrow of democratically elected Chilean president Salvatore Allende, because Allende didn't espouse the U.S. government's view of an appropriate governing style. The story is told by seasoned lawyer Tony Gannon as he looks back over his life. He begins that story as a naive Yale graduate and newly minted engineer and ends it as a Miami lawyer, and along the way, he demonstrates why many of us became lawyers--to obtain justice for all, especially those who cannot fend for themselves. He also leaves the reader with probable cause for the international view of the U.S. government as arrogant and imperialist.

Tony, the brand-new engineer eager for excitement, is hired by the CIA, because he's also a street-smart tough guy. He leaves the U.S., his family, and his girl, and starts his short CIA career as an operative in Chile, fronting as a U.S. telephone company technician. Incognito as Andrew Stevens, his boring CIA mission is to maintain bugs in the presidential palace and to monitor and report on those who are loyal and disloyal to the president. He gets more excitement than he bargained for and questions the ethics of our government involvement...