You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Very American - but really what did I expect. Quite a bit of self-& country glorification and not a lot of empathy for the "other" in particular the security agencies of other countries come in for a lambasting. Since a lot is "redacted" it's not always easy to follow which countries / incidents she's referring to.
The extreme sexism and racism in the FBI is dealt with as well in contrast to what appears to be more equality in the CIA.
The extreme sexism and racism in the FBI is dealt with as well in contrast to what appears to be more equality in the CIA.
I recently found Tracy after she popped up on my FYP on instagram and was immediately intrigued by her story. As someone who went to school for intelligence and national security, had previous aspirations of working for the CIA, and now applies her intel skills in cybersecurity, I had to know more.
Safe to say, glad I decided to pursue cybersecurity in the private sector because I could not even hope to be half the bad ass that Tracy is. What. A. Woman!!! I’ve traveled to some pretty far flung places and seen some stuff but this woman is in a league of her own. I loved her story telling ability and her sense of purpose for why she decided to pursue this as a career shines through the entire book. She is officially one of my role models and someone who I look forward to following and hearing from in years to come. I loved her story and found it to be incredibly inspiring, especially to a woman trying to make her way in a male dominated field.
Safe to say, glad I decided to pursue cybersecurity in the private sector because I could not even hope to be half the bad ass that Tracy is. What. A. Woman!!! I’ve traveled to some pretty far flung places and seen some stuff but this woman is in a league of her own. I loved her story telling ability and her sense of purpose for why she decided to pursue this as a career shines through the entire book. She is officially one of my role models and someone who I look forward to following and hearing from in years to come. I loved her story and found it to be incredibly inspiring, especially to a woman trying to make her way in a male dominated field.
informative
fast-paced
[The author blocked me on instagram when I asked why she deleted my previous comment, which asked why her videos have an odd grain and flat appearance. Something about the way she edits and speaks in her instagram reels is really off. They straight up look like a fake person talking against a green screen.]
The book is much more interesting, engaging, and legitimate-feeling than her social media. Though the writing was not particularly descriptive or visceral, it was still a worthwhile read. The author didn’t seem to spend much time at either the CIA or the FBI, but reading about the time she did spend at each agency was interesting. I found the CIA chapters the most engaging. Though I still wanted more detail, more description, more feelings to be elicited from what I was reading. The writing itself was the weakest part of the book. It was all pretty straightforward and didn’t get too deep. I never really understood why she left the CIA in the first place. Because she wanted a family? She said herself at the beginning of the book there were all sorts of positions at the agency that didn’t involve travel or such high stakes as the ones she was in. If she liked it there so much, I wonder why she never went back.
The FBI chapters were rough to read. I don’t doubt for a second any of her experiences there. However, when she was complaining she was always assigned to cover the women or children in a warrant/arrest/raid, I couldn’t help thinking about about how those women might have been relieved and grateful to deal with a woman in such a scary situation - especially if they were innocent, or children. She wanted the big action, but her role as a woman for the women was still important. It was a bit surprising that this perspective was never considered.
The FBI chapters were rough to read. I don’t doubt for a second any of her experiences there. However, when she was complaining she was always assigned to cover the women or children in a warrant/arrest/raid, I couldn’t help thinking about about how those women might have been relieved and grateful to deal with a woman in such a scary situation - especially if they were innocent, or children. She wanted the big action, but her role as a woman for the women was still important. It was a bit surprising that this perspective was never considered.
I enjoyed reading about a woman in her unique position and hearing her progressive perspective on women in intelligence general. Yes, she’s definitely a “Malibu Barbie.” (How many times do we need to be reminded she’s from Southern California?)
Everything seemed easy for her - knowing whatever she needed to know (I would have liked to know more about her education,) memorizing, physical training, defensive driving, being immune to pepper spray, getting terrorists to talk somehow, and much more - and she did it all while making sure she was still feminine and pretty. Being feminine and keeping her hair bleached came across as the biggest struggle she faced. But she also came across as a “girl’s girl,” in a Barbie-movie-feminist kind of way. (This is neither a fault nor an insult, just my observation and opinion.) This book was overall very pro-women, and I appreciated that.
Everything seemed easy for her - knowing whatever she needed to know (I would have liked to know more about her education,) memorizing, physical training, defensive driving, being immune to pepper spray, getting terrorists to talk somehow, and much more - and she did it all while making sure she was still feminine and pretty. Being feminine and keeping her hair bleached came across as the biggest struggle she faced. But she also came across as a “girl’s girl,” in a Barbie-movie-feminist kind of way. (This is neither a fault nor an insult, just my observation and opinion.) This book was overall very pro-women, and I appreciated that.
In the epilogue we learn she is now teaching at an all girl’s school in Texas. This felt like a natural conclusion and a good fit for her career-wise. I think those girls are probably very lucky to have her as a teacher.
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced
informative
tense
slow-paced
This highly readable. absorbing memoir has already received a huge number of reviews, so I don't feel I need to summarize Tracy Walder's background, or the general layout of the book.
It's a very intense look at her experiences overseas while a CIA Agent as part of the Poison Squad (her name--I have no idea if that is a real thing). There were some very grim descriptions (severed heads, anyone?) but what I found most disturbing was the hate-filled misogyny aimed at her, especially during her FBI training. From her perspective, she was already judged for being a woman, a Jew, and blonde. At the FBI she was ostracized for being part of the CIA.
Her motivation for writing this book seems to be aimed at women, young women especially, whose brains and talent and skills are so very needed to fix this world full of toxic masculinity. Which sums up Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Otherwise she largely stays away from politics, outside of a few remarks here and there. Her focus was on her experiences as an agent of the CIA and then of the FBI, and the people she encountered within the service, and as targets.
It can be unnerving at time, and also moving, such as the incident after she fell down a stone stairway and lay in a military hospital bed at an undisclosed Middle Eastern hotspot. While she was there, a bombing happened elsewhere and a bunch of local women were badly wounded, suffering burns over most of their bodies.
As she lay in the hospital bed, she turned her head to meet the eyes of the woman next to her, whose face was badly burned. Walder describes how she stayed there, blending their gazes, their breathing even synchronized, a conscious effort after a nurse told her quietly that none of the women had made it--and they didn't have hope for this one either. But Walder wanted to give this woman as much human contact as she could until the end, and did.
The only negative observation I have to make is the long bits of redacted text marked with tons of ~~~~~. A substitute word such as thingy or McGuffin could have served just as well for the short bits, and as for the long paragraphs of ~~~~, they were unnecessary. It was sufficient to state at the outset that portions of her memoir were redacted for security reasons; this was not a report, or even a white paper, with footnotes noting every resource. The memoir was full of opinion, emotional reactions, and changed names, so the ~~~ seemed pointlessly intrusive.
But other than that I found it an absorbing read, and I hope that women like her are paving the way for a new generation of women.
Copy provided by NetGalley
It's a very intense look at her experiences overseas while a CIA Agent as part of the Poison Squad (her name--I have no idea if that is a real thing). There were some very grim descriptions (severed heads, anyone?) but what I found most disturbing was the hate-filled misogyny aimed at her, especially during her FBI training. From her perspective, she was already judged for being a woman, a Jew, and blonde. At the FBI she was ostracized for being part of the CIA.
Her motivation for writing this book seems to be aimed at women, young women especially, whose brains and talent and skills are so very needed to fix this world full of toxic masculinity. Which sums up Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Otherwise she largely stays away from politics, outside of a few remarks here and there. Her focus was on her experiences as an agent of the CIA and then of the FBI, and the people she encountered within the service, and as targets.
It can be unnerving at time, and also moving, such as the incident after she fell down a stone stairway and lay in a military hospital bed at an undisclosed Middle Eastern hotspot. While she was there, a bombing happened elsewhere and a bunch of local women were badly wounded, suffering burns over most of their bodies.
As she lay in the hospital bed, she turned her head to meet the eyes of the woman next to her, whose face was badly burned. Walder describes how she stayed there, blending their gazes, their breathing even synchronized, a conscious effort after a nurse told her quietly that none of the women had made it--and they didn't have hope for this one either. But Walder wanted to give this woman as much human contact as she could until the end, and did.
The only negative observation I have to make is the long bits of redacted text marked with tons of ~~~~~. A substitute word such as thingy or McGuffin could have served just as well for the short bits, and as for the long paragraphs of ~~~~, they were unnecessary. It was sufficient to state at the outset that portions of her memoir were redacted for security reasons; this was not a report, or even a white paper, with footnotes noting every resource. The memoir was full of opinion, emotional reactions, and changed names, so the ~~~ seemed pointlessly intrusive.
But other than that I found it an absorbing read, and I hope that women like her are paving the way for a new generation of women.
Copy provided by NetGalley
informative
medium-paced