In the week of the Frankfurt Book Fair...

Richard Condon's novels have been translated into 35 languages over the years. Here in a transcipt from an interview in 1964 is a glimpse into his own linguistic skills...

"I have always had a healthy disrespect for roots and when the opportunity came, I took my children out to see the world and we've been moving to a new country every two years, four or five countries - and in the end my older girl speaks five languages, four of them fluently and my wife speaks three languages fluently and my younger girl speaks three languages fluently."

"What do you speak fluently?"

"Er - I type well. Type very rapidly."