A Need to Know

Reviews / Votes

"This is a deeply fascinating portrait of the cold war..An important and brilliant take on life in mid-twentieth century US." -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. "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 "Goodall has written a powerful, eerie, and moving portrait of his father, and of a life built on lies required of a secret agent during the Cold War. The book 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, Ph.D., author of Homeward Bound: American families in the Cold War Era "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 would appeal to anyone interested in cultural studies, (auto)ethnography, family communication, and political history. It would be an appropriate book for courses on life writing and narrative, conspiracy, and persuasion." -Review of Communication