Ernst Stavro Blofeld novel, "The Spy Who Loved Me", though its events take place while Bond is battling SPECTRE in North America. In "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1963), Bond learns that Blofeld has altered his appearance radically —he is now tall and thin; has reduced his weight to ; sports long silver hair, a syphilitic infection on his nose, and no earlobes; he wears dark green tinted contact lenses to hide his distinctive eyes. Perhaps less calculating than previously, he is notably saddled with the exploitable weakness of snobbery about his assumed nobility, indicating that he is losing his sanity. He is
James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his organisation SPECTRE; however, this was changed to avoid a possible lawsuit over the rights to this character, which originated from the novel "Thunderball". The paperback edition became an instant bestseller in the UK, staying on the British bestsellers list for several months. Critical reception of the novel were mixed, though most praised Wood's skill as a writer. Marghanita Laski, writing in "The Listener", called Wood "an apparently promising thriller writer struggling to emerge from obligatory bits of set-piece nastiness." Former Bond author Kingsley Amis wrote in "The New Statesman" that, despite several reservations, "Mr Wood