Overview

In scenes eerily parallel to the culture of fear inspired by our current War on Terror, A Need to Know explores the clandestine history of a CIA family defined, and ultimately destroyed, by their oath to keep toxic secrets during the Cold War. When Bud Goodall's father mysteriously died, his inheritance consisted of three well-worn books: a Holy Bible, The Great Gatsby, and a diary. But they turned his life upside down. From the diary Goodall learned that his father had been a CIA operative during the height of the Cold War, and the Bible and Gatsby had been his codebooks. Many unexplained facets of Bud's childhood came into focus with this revelation.The high living in Rome and London. The blood-stained stiletto in his jewelry case. Bud, as a child, was always told he never had ""a need to know."" Or did he? Now, as an adult and a university professor, Goodall attempts to fill in the missing pieces of his Cold War childhood by uncovering a lifetime of family secrets. Who were his parents? What did his father do on those business trips when he was ""working for the government?""What betrayal turned a heroic career of national service into a nightmare of alcoholism, depression, and premature death for both of his parents? Slowly, inexorably, Goodall unearths the chilling secrets of a CIA family in A Need to Know.

Full Product Details

9781598740417

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Reviews

'Reads like a mystery combined with Shakespearean tragedy and conveys how families can be battered and broken by the forces of clandestine government work. This tale is an intimate story of family life, and also a chilling picture of Cold War America.' Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era 'This is a deeply fascinating portrait of the cold war.' The Guardian 'The effect of clandestine operations on the operators and their families is something we don't think about often, or encounter in reading spy literature... An enlightening and moving work.' Hugh Downs, longtime anchor of ABC's 20/20 and author of several books, including My America - What My Country Means to Me 'Bud Goodall's father and namesake knew far more about the Cold War than the rest of America, and he paid for it: through alcoholism and a premature death at age 53, as well as through an alienated relationship with his son. When he died, he left Bud, who is professor and director of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communications, with a diary of his exploits as a spy for the CIA. Goodall uses his skill as an ethnographer to tell a very personal story of his father and his family's tortured journey through mid-20th century America, one that reads like a non-fiction cross between a James Bond thriller and a Greek tragedy.' ASU Alumni Magazine 'A Need To Know begins as an investigation of a father's concealed life as a spy, but by its end, author Harold Lloyd Goodall Jr. casts new light on previously explored corners of broader subjects such as the dangerous conspiracy of family secrets, the world of espionage, and the destructive nature of the Cold War. ...Throughout his quest for facts, Goodall draws attention to the tenuous nature of truth and the poisonous power of lies... Although it is based in truth, this spy story captures the reader's attention in the tradition of the best mystery novels.' Alice L. George, Ph.D., author of Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis

'Reads like a mystery combined with Shakespearean tragedy and conveys how families can be battered and broken by the forces of clandestine government work. This tale is an intimate story of family life, and also a chilling picture of Cold War America.' Elaine Tyler May, author of Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era 'This is a deeply fascinating portrait of the cold war.' The Guardian 'The effect of clandestine operations on the operators and their families is something we don't think about often, or encounter in reading spy literature... An enlightening and moving work.' Hugh Downs, longtime anchor of ABC's 20/20 and author of several books, including My America - What My Country Means to Me 'Bud Goodall's father and namesake knew far more about the Cold War than the rest of America, and he paid for it: through alcoholism and a premature death at age 53, as well as through an alienated relationship with his son. When he died, he left Bud, who is professor and director of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communications, with a diary of his exploits as a spy for the CIA. Goodall uses his skill as an ethnographer to tell a very personal story of his father and his family's tortured journey through mid-20th century America, one that reads like a non-fiction cross between a James Bond thriller and a Greek tragedy.' ASU Alumni Magazine 'A Need To Know begins as an investigation of a father's concealed life as a spy, but by its end, author Harold Lloyd Goodall Jr. casts new light on previously explored corners of broader subjects such as the dangerous conspiracy of family secrets, the world of espionage, and the destructive nature of the Cold War. ...Throughout his quest for facts, Goodall draws attention to the tenuous nature of truth and the poisonous power of lies... Although it is based in truth, this spy story captures the reader's attention in the tradition of the best mystery novels.' Alice L. George, Ph.D., author of Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis

Author Information

Harold Lloyd Goodall, Jr is Professor and Director of The Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. In 2003 he won the Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship. He is the author or co-author of nineteen books, both text and popular, including the ethnographic trilogy Casing a Promised Land, Living in the Rock n Roll Mystery, and Divine Signs: Connecting Spirit to Community. His most recent work has been in the area of communication, terrorism and national security in a post-9/11 culture.

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