I wish I liked this book more. I did like to see the CIA block out Wilson's story, and I was glad to hear the even government workers are disgruntled with Bush. However, the writing was a little dry, and the CIA blackouts cause too much break in the story. ( )

Jogo de Poder relata uma história real, escrita pela ex-agente secreta da CIA, Valerie Plame Wilson e que deu origem ao filme homônimo estrelado por Naomi Watts e Sean Penn. Valerie foi peça-chave de um dos mais rumorosos incidentes do governo Bush, que declarou guerra contra o Iraque com o pretexto de que o país estaria comprando armas nucleares. Profissional com currículo impecável, com 18 anos de serviços prestados à CIA como espiã na área de inteligência, Valerie descobre que o Iraque não tinha programa de proliferação de armas nucleares de porte como anunciava a Casa Branca. Paralelamente, seu marido, o diplomata Joseph Wilson, é enviado à África, confirma a tese de sua mulher e escreve um artigo para o New York Times. A partir daí começa uma rede de intrigas, após a identidade de Valerie ser revelada por oficiais do governo Bush e ter vazado para a imprensa, colocando em risco o seu casamento, a sua segurança, a de sua família e a dos seus contatos no exterior.

Rating: 2.7/5

"I dared not tell my parents about my latest “job opportunity” — my mother would not have slept for the entire week."

This book does have bias because it's written by the author, about herself and her time. The CIA has reviewed the book so there parts that are reacted. Which does take away from the book, but the publisher explains why, before the first chapter. So you take everything in this book with a grain of salt (read & understand it, but don't believe it 100%).

"had taken the position that [Text has been redacted here.]. In other words, [Text has been redacted here.] "

"the vast majority of people really only want to talk about themselves. Answering a query about yourself, especially if there is not a lot you want to give out, is a matter of providing enough to be polite, then deflecting the question back to the conversation partner."

While this book does cover some details that similar books don't cover, I would encourage you to read similar books to get context behind things that the author doesn't cover.

"Making decisions on how much money to offer a potential asset while handing crayons to my daughter who sat under my desk was strange indeed, but not without humor."

Many sentences felt like run-on sentences, commas are needed. The chapters are also very long, so I encourage you to watch the time when you read. There are passages of time that happen without context, or how long has passed, which makes it a bit harder to read.

"It was obvious to me that anyone working for the government better truly love what she was doing, because the modest pay and personal sacrifices wouldn’t keep a good employee with any ambition around for long."

The book could have been shorten in multiple ways, from removing sections & chapters that didn't make sense to have, the author's family history, and the afterword (which seems to be a shorten version of the book).

Overall, an interesting book which has a different perspective on the CIA.

"Nearly all foreign travel carries the risk of stomach upheaval, but while it is an inconvenience as a tourist, it is a catastrophe when on business." ( )

I had been wanting to read this book. While I enjoyed parts of it (and was pretty angry on Plame's behalf), as others have said, it was tough..really tough..to follow because so much was blacked out. I have heard the word "redacted" so much on the news lately I hate to use it myself, but that aspect made it tough to get full enjoyment out of.

I still rated it a 4 because, were it not for the redactions, I am sure it would be a 4 or even a 5. Plame is a good writer and it isn't her fault they made it as hard for her as possible. Obviously I'd still recommend this book, particularly to political junkies. ( )

Heavily redacted due to CIA rules, the book is somewhat frustrating to read. The redaction seems especially petty and possibly vindictive by the CIA staff since much of what was removed is in the public domain, and was included by the publisher at the end of the book anyway. That being said, I felt the book came up short in detailing exactly what was the point of her being "outed" as a CIA spy by the Administration, which was my major interest in the first place. All-in-all, you'll learn a little about who Valerie Plame Wilson was, something of her CIA career, and something about what kind of Administration was running the Country during the Bush years. ( )