Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy, by Lindsay Moran

This struck me as a candid, inside look at the CIA. The book is divided loosely into two parts, the first detailing the training of an agent and the second describing the author’s posting to central Europe. The over arching theme is one of regret: Moran is constantly having second thoughts about whatever she happens to be doing at the time. The blurb on the back cover calls this a “searing indictment of the CIA” but I don’t agree. I found this to be an honest portrayal of a woman that finds herself in the wrong profession. Yes, there is a heavy dose of disgruntlement with the excessive bureaucracy, but that is endemic of all government agencies—not just the CIA.

The difference between a memoir and an autobiography is how much of ones self goes into the writing. The intensely personal nature of this work puts it firmly in the memoir category.

First Sentence:

I am in a medical laboratory at the Central Intelligence Agency, waiting to pee in a cup.