Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA
by Amaryllis Fox
“I’ve come to advocate for recruiting adversaries to our side rather than stealing information or material without the target’s knowledge.” ~ Amaryllis Fox
“Danny’s been a writing hero of mine for a couple of years now. I scarcely know him, but we’ve crossed paths a few times — in D.C., while I was in high school and he was just starting out at The Wall Street Journal, and later in Southeast Asia, as I began to cut my teeth and he offered gentle advice on my stories.” ~ Regarding Fox’s writing mentor Daniel Pearl who was captured and beheaded in 2002, from author’s book
In Fox’s compelling memoir of her ten-year stint in the CIA as a non-official cover (NOC) agent, she describes her extraordinary role in attempting to keep the USA safe, and how she chose to join the CIA. NOC agents do not travel on diplomatic passports or enjoy the protection or cover of embassies.
She relates how, as a child traveling with her father to Moscow, while he conducted business as an economist and advisor to governments, she was exposed to different cultures and people. During her gap year prior to entering Oxford University, she spent a year volunteering at a refugee camp along the Thai-Burmese border and became acquainted with Burmese activists who escaped to Thailand during the 1980s. Fox secretly went to Burma in 1999 to interview Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who at the time was under house arrest. (Aung, now 80 years old, has tragically been imprisoned over 20 years in a high security jail.*) Fox eventually smuggled the film of the interview out of Burma.
Fox’s undercover persona was as a dealer in Asian, Middle Eastern, and African art. One of her harrowing missions was to infiltrate an Al-Qaida-linked group responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings.
Reading about her grueling CIA training is absolutely fascinating. The challenges she encountered during her tenure as an agent were not only work-related. She openly discusses how difficult it is to maintain a marriage and be a parent in this type of career. Fox is an insightful, determined, and courageous person who truly believes in the sacrifices she and her colleagues perform to make our nation a safer place. She firmly believes in promoting peace, not destabilizing governments. I learned so much about the espionage trade and about this incredibly talented and exceptional woman! I also have immense respect for these unsung heroes who put their lives on the line for us. * If you are interested in reading about Aung San Suu Kyi, I highly recommend The Burma Spring, which I reviewed in the May 2016 PCL newsletter. It describes her life and her role in fighting for democracy in the former Burma, now known as Myanmar.
Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History
by Paul Horgan
I have never before included a book review that I presented in a previous PCL Book Review Selections, but being that this non-fiction, unrivaled, quintessential classic on the Southwest and Rio Grande Valley may be unfamiliar to new PCL readers I believe new readers and/or newcomers to New Mexico would thoroughly enjoy reading it. A 1955 Pulitzer Prize winner, Great River is a brilliant saga beginning with the early Anasazi Pueblo people continuing on thru the centuries to the 20th Century. It explores the four primary cultures in the Southwest: Native American, Anglo, Mexican, and Spanish. Keep in mind the cultural and historical context at the time it was written. Great River is reminiscent of the outstanding Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides, but it presents a more detailed account of the early history of the Southwest and focuses on the Rio Grande and its environs. It originally appeared in the February 2016 PCL newsletter.
A New Mexico resident, the author and historian was a former Chairman of the Santa Fe Opera and alumni of the New Mexico Military Institute. He won a second Pulitzer, also for history, for his book Lamy of Santa Fe 20 years after receiving his first Pulitzer.
The Guncle
by Steven Rowley
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), or Guncle, is a successful TV celebrity now living a secluded life in his Palm Springs home after the loss of the “love of his life” in an automobile accident. After the loss of his mother and the death of his beloved sister-in-law, Sarah, his brother Greg, experiences a health crisis and cannot cope with raising his two small children, nine-year-old Maisie and six-year-old Grant. His brother asks Patrick to take care of his children for the summer while he stays in a rehab facility.
Since Patrick has no clue how to parent his niece and nephew, he panics but eventually proceeds with aplomb. The antics that ensue with the children are hilarious as Patrick gains a new sense of responsibility. Through seriousness and humor, he expounds on life lessons we can all appreciate. I found how Patrick evolves with all the challenges he faces utterly endearing and touching. This delightful book is literally brimming with wit and love, and has great depth, navigating through both grief and hope.
Adult book reviews are by Susanne Dominguez.