When the Germans invaded and conquered Poland, a young Polish soldier was in more peril than most. Wilo Ungar was Jewish and badly wounded. Because he wore the Polish uniform he was given the last rites by a priest who thought Ungar was Catholic. For the months after his recovery that he was held prisoner by the Germans he was saved by his captors ignorance of his ethnicity. Finally released he made his way back through war-ravaged Poland on crutches. He was given refuge by Polish families and eventually smuggled himself across the German-Soviet border, was captured by the NKVD and imprisoned as a spy. Ultimately he made his way back to the city of Lvov and reunion with his girl. They married and when Germany turned on Russia, they and their baby Michael managed for a while to evade Nazi roundups but in 1942 they were caught and separated in a time when the Nazi holocaust was being carried out in earnest. Highly recommended for students of the Holocaust, Destined To Live is the riveting story of Wilo's search for his family in a world of love and death, organized violence and the indomitable human spirit.

William Ungar's memoir of survival is the single most moving account of the Holocaust that I have read. With vivd and heart-renching portrayls of his young wife, infant son, other raltives and friends who perished during the Holocaust, Destined to Live brilliantly depicts the devestating emotional toll the Holocaust wrought on those that survived. Without a trace of bitterness, Mr. Ungar describes how he managed to survive the Nazi's occupation of Poland, and went on to create a powerful life that postively impacted the lives of countless others. Destined to Live is not a memoir about survival for survival's sake. It is a gripping tale of how humans, even in the most dire and unjust of circumstances, can use the powers of love and perseverence to create true beauty and greatness. If I were to recommend one book to someone who wanted to learn about the impact of the Holocaust on those that survived, I would recommend Destined to Live.

Mr. William Unger has written a true story that will touch the heart of any person who glances upon it's pages. Being an employee of his great company I may be biased. However, his story will impact as deeply upon anyone, regardless of whether or not they know first hand his kindness and triumph. He has strived and achieved greatness dispite hardship, and by reading this book you will see that this man deserves all that is great in this world. Congratulations Mr Unger, you have touched us all deeply.

This is a truly remarkable book, much different from most anthropological literature. Although Good sets out to do a very mainstream anthropological study, he gets drawn in to the community, and what ensues is a fascinating tale, a touching love story, and hopefully, a major change in people's beliefs about so-called "primitive tribes". As Good becomes more and more frustrated with the competitive and stuffy world of academia and more connected to his Yanomama tribe, he truly begins to change his life. Remarkable!

EAGERLY DEVOURING EACH LEAF OF LITERATURE IN KENNETH GOOD'S INTO THE HEART, READERS ARE CATAPULTED INTO MYSTICAL, UNSEEN EXPANSES WITHIN THE VAST AMAZON RAIN FOREST. WE READERS VIRTUALLY BECOME AN ANTHROPOLOGIST'S TRAVEL COMPANIONS AS GOOD EXPLORES A LAND BLANKETED WITH A PEOPLE KNOWN AS THE YANOMAMI. CIVILIZATION IS RARE IN SUCH VIRGIN TERRAIN, NEIGHBORING THE PIRANHA-INFESTED ORINOCO RIVER. YET, INTO THE HEART, PUMPING WITH THE LIFE-BLOOD OF SURVIVAL, EXPOSES HOW ONE PRIMITIVE CULTURE SUBSISTS WITHOUT A SPARK OF TECHNOLOGY OR MODERN CONVENIENCE. RAYS OF INSIGHT EMANATE CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS AS WE REALIZE THAT A DISTANT VENEZUELAN COMMUNITY SHARES CERTAIN QUALITIES THAT INTERCONNECT ALL HUMAN BEINGS, HOLISTICALLY. INSTITUTIONS, SUCH AS MARRIAGE, AND KINSHIP RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE YANOMAMI EXEMPLIFY CROSS-CULTURAL SIMILARITIES. OTHER UNIQUE ASPECTS DIVERGE FROM THIS INTEGRATED OUTLOOK, HOWEVER. IMAGINE SPORTING ONLY A MERE LOINCLOTH OR DRINKING A POTION, ITS KEY INGREDIENTS BEING YOUR LATE GRANDFATHER'S ASHES. tHOUGH CULTURE-SHOCKED INITIALLY, THE HEIGHTENED COGNIZANCE WE HAVE ACHIEVED THROUGH THIS EXOTIC TRUDGE THROUGH THE AMAZON OVERSHADOWS ANY HARDSHIPS WE HAVE ENDURED. GOOD'S JOURNEY INTO THE HEART HAS FOREVER IMPACTED MY LIFE. WE DEPART FROM THIS MEMORABLE EXCURSION WITH OUR DWELLINGS CARPETED BY GIGANTIC ANTS, OUR TOES NIBBLED BY RAVENOUS VAMPIRE BATS, AND OUR BODIES STRICKEN WITH STRAINS OF MALARIA. AS PASSENGERS ON THIS UNFORGETTABLE VOYAGE, WE READERS HAVE ABSORBED A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL FIELDWORK. FOR MORE THAN A DECADE WE HAVE WATCHED AN ANTHROPOLOGIST FULLY EXAMINE A CULTURE DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN. THROUGH KENNETH GOOD, MANKIND ACROSS THE WORLD HAS BEEN INTRODUCED TO THE YANOMAMI, A REMARKABLE PEOPLE WHO BOLDLY LEAD US INTO THE HEART OF HUMANITY.

This is that rare book on Vietnam which contributes new information which is essential to understanding the war and the country. Chanoff and Toai have assembled an extraordinary set of new interviews, published reminiscences, and war-time interrogation reports with northern and southern Vietnamese participants in the decades long struggle to build a unified communist country.

These are as frank and revealing a set of eyewitness interviews as anyone is ever likely to assemble. They deal honestly and painfully with the hardships of war, the combination of idealism and brutality that pervade daily life during war, and the shattered dreams of many participants during land reform, ideological purges and power grabs.

I consider this one of the 15 or 20 books that belongs on everyone's list of the ten most important books written on the war. Along with books by David Marr, Hue-Tam Ho Tai and Le Ly Hayslip, I consider it one of the essential sources on Vietnam itself. There is not just the insight of personal memoirs from well-known events, there are also many major revelations about critical events in the war -- such as the Buddhist struggles and the building of the Ho Chi Minh trail.

I have been teaching courses on the contry and the war for over 20 years at the University of California at San Diego. I expect to be using this book in class for many years.

In 1943, two years before his birth in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, Toai's father and older brother joined the Vietminh, the communist underground movement in Vietnam. Toai became a National Liberation Front (NLF, Viet Cong) supporter as a high school student and rose to be an important student leader in the Saigon University during the late 1960's. He published a student magazine Tu Quet, (Self Determinination) and unswervingly followed the Viet Cong's highly-attractive propaganda line, "Peace, Freedom, Independence, Neutrality, and Social Welfare."

Toai never formally joined the Viet Cong, but, for nationalistic and idealistic reasons, he served it superbly. He led takeovers of the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Cambodian Embassy in Saigon, and lectured at Berkley to American anti-war activists (who thought his views too tame). After the North Vietnamese Army imposed peace in 1975, he became a senior official of the Ministry of Finance under the Provisional Government. He soon disagreed on purely professional grounds with a superior official and was quickly and unceremoniously tossed into jail.

Toai had previously read Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago and dismissed its substance as propaganda. When arrested, he vividly recalled Gulag's chapter 2, entitled "Arrest," in which the freshly arrested victim invariably thinks, "Who me? What for? It's a mistake, they'll clear it up." Toai consoled himself that the Gulag was in "old" Russia, and that he was in the "new" Vietnam. It turned out that there was no significant difference. He lived through two and a half years of horrors that may seem unbelievable to those who have not read Solzhenitsyn's works.

Toai was never charged with any offense, and was thus jailed for no reason at all. His wife, a French citizen, managed to return to France and from there won his freedom. As he was being released, the fact that there was no official reason whatever for either his arrest or his release caused bureaucratic gyrations that would have been hilarious had the issue been less serious.

During much of his time in prison, Toai was befriended by Nguyen Van Hien, an old and often-jailed Vietminh cadre from before the time that Ho Chi Minh left the Soviet Comintern and returned to Vietnam. Hien asked Toai to recall the NLF's program, a shining beacon - promulgate all democratic freedoms, amnesty to all political detainees, abolish all concentration camps, and strictly ban all illegal arrests and imprisonments. "What do you make of all that now," asked Hien, and his expression suggested, "We've all been taken in...Look around you stupid, what do you see?"

Incredibly, despite his sufferings and disillusionment, Hien remained a loyal communist. Like uncountable thousands of other idealists before him, he still grasped his lifelong ideal although he probably understood that he had been purged purely because he knew too much. "I've never eaten chocolate," he said. "I'll probably never know what it tastes like."

Toai eventually spoke again to former anti-Vietnam war activists in the U.S., thinking that he had something important to tell them. He was wrong. Most of them didn't want to listen.

(Published in a local newsletter in 1987.)

Ariel Sharon, although he had help from a professional writer on this, does not seem to carry the wieght of his importance to Israel in this book. It is a fascinating tale nonetheless, but he lacks a certain literary zing that keeps you glued to the book. Sharon was and is a military genius of the first order (as in Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Patton), but he does not have the glint of hope that Dayan had for lasting peace with the Arab countries. Sharon details his experiences up to his greatest military moment-leading the IDF to surround the Egyptian 3rd Army in the Yom Kippur War, and later he defends himself from the accusations that he was responsible for the SLA massacre at Sabra and Shatilla (he was eventually exonerated, and an American court found in his favor when he sued Time Magazine for slander). A very good book about a fascinating man, but Moshe Dayan's will still be the high watermark.

This book tells the story of a true Israeli hero. You will read about his life, his love and his battles...Where would Israel be today without Ariel Sharon...Although out of print, I managed to find a copy and I am happy I did!

Ariel Sharon is so demonized by so many in the Arab world and Liberal Jews and Israelis that I sought this book to hear his side of his incredible career and life. Having spent most of his life fighting for Israel's survival and combatting terrorism in every war and conflict, he illuminates the problems Israel faces and the nature of its Arab opposition.

Like a true warrior he is a man of peace. Those who have been in the carnage of battle want to avoid it the most, but he has enough insight to understand that compromises and shortcuts to accomodate other's deadlines and agendas only means sending your grandchildren off to war.

His stories of being in the frontline of Israel's historic battles are gripping military history; and his rise from a neophyte poltician to Israel's Prime Minister provides a rich introduction to Israeli politics. His efforts to develop trade and agricultural ties throughout the world is less known than his military and political career, but very important among his contributions.

But most of all I wanted to hear his account of the Lebanese war and specifically the massacres in Sabra and Shatilla. I have always been bewildered at how the murder of Moslems by Christians would lead to the villanization of a Jew. He explained his view how he was sacrificed by the international pressures and Israel's own political parties.

The fact that he was able to rise from this poltical abyss to become prime minister is a remarkable achievement. There is far more depth to this man than his opponents would want us to believe.

This book was an excellent read a must for those trying to understand the complexities of modern Israel, and a fascinating biography of the leading player on the middle eastern stage.

This is one of the most entertaining books that I've read from cover to cover throughout my college education. I've also been lucky enough to have Dr. Good as a professor for two classes. We used this book for both classes. In reading this book and hearing first hand of his life in the Amazon, has made me realize that the world is bigger and more diverse than I ever wondered. His marriage to Yarima shows the love that can happen to people being from anywhere in the world. Some of his colleagues at the University like to show their lack of intelligence by talking about this marriage to Yarima. If they had half the experience Dr. Good posses in the field they would realize that they are just jealous of being nobodies in his department.

"Into the Heart" by Kenneth Good with David Chanoff was for me the most inspiring book of this decade and this century. When I began reading it, I could not put it down until I read the last sentence, in the wee hours of the morning.

This book had such an impact on me that I was compelled to read it over and over again. It was THIS BOOK that inspired me to travel to the Amazon in October 1999. I would highly recommend this excellent account of life among stone age people for anyone who has an open mind and wants to learn of aboriginal cultures in South America. This book is for everyone who likes to read about adventure, travel, altruism, love, and the dangers one may encounter travelling in "unchartered waters."

It would have been difficult for me not to identify with the protagonist (the author)as I read of his struggles to learn the language, to gain acceptance in Yanomami society, to learn the simple code of ethics in a primitive culture as well as his efforts to acquire survival skills such as learning to fish, hunt, climb trees, go on long treks. My own sense of wonder and excitement grew when I read of the author's "first contact" with hitherto uncontacted Yanomami tribes, and the reaction of these people upon seeing an outsider-a white man-for the first time! I was filled with admiration for the author when I read in chapter 9 that he distributed his very last malaria pill to a Yanomami tribesman, a deed for which he almost paid the ultimate price.

His inner struggles with his conscience are apparent when in chapter 7 the author could no longer be the casual observer, the detached scientist-researcher, and allow the stabbing of a poor, whimpering, malaria stricken woman. A scientist in the field is supposed to observe but not intervene. By putting his feelings first, he saved a life.

Upon reading this book, I felt the utter despair that the author must have experienced when he thought he would lose his wife, Yarima, because of needless red tape, delaying his permit to return to her and her tribe. I also felt his happiness upon finding her again. I was sorry to learn when I saw the National Geographic documentary entitled "Yanomami Homecoming" that Yarima decided not to return to the USA with her husband and children, especially since she indicated in the documentary that she loved her husband. This was why she had married him and moved to New Jersey where she lived for 6 years trying to adapt to western life.

My life was greatly enriched by reading this book. I had learned a great deal about birth and death in Yanomami society, about funeral practices, incest taboos, practising agriculture in the jungle, strange customs such as body painting and other forms of body beautification. Having read several other books about indigenous people of the Amazon I can truly say, this book eclipses them all.

Books I have read about the Yanomami include: "Amazon" and "Savages" both by Dennison Berwick; "Aborigines of the Amazon Rainforest" by Robin Hanbury Tenison; and "Amazon Journal" by Geoffrey O'Connor.

From an avid reader in Alberta, Canada, October 30, 1999 *****

I have read many anthropological ethnographies and personal descriptions; this is perhaps the best I've read. (Another interesting book about the Yanamami, by a woman anthropologist, is Shabono.) I wanted to add to the previously contributed reviews that there is a follow-up documentary, done by National Geographic Society (I believe) a few years after the book was written, which describes what happened to the marriage between Kenneth Good and his Yanamamo wife. His wife was completely unprepared for life in the West and had almost no support systems available to her. She ended up returning to her people.

This book was my first in-depth introduction into the intricacies of the Viet Nam War. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of this monolithic subject.

In the final chapter, Mr. Bui lists the main reasons why the war was so unmanageable and why the US (and coincidentally S. Viet Nam) eventually lost it. The reason listed last (the problems resulting from US intervention) is the focus of his book.

"The South Vietnamese people, and especially the South Vietnamese leaders, myself among them, bear the ultimate responsibility for the fate of their nation, and to be honest, they have much to regret and much to be ashamed of. But it is also true that the war's cast of characters operated within a matrix of larger forces that stood outside the common human inadequacies and failings. And it was these forces that shaped the landscape on which we all moved."

"First...was the obduracy of France, which in the late forties insisted on retaining control of its former colony rather than conceding independence in good time to a people who hungered for it. Second was the ideological obsession of Vietnam's Communists. Not content with fighting to slough off a dying colonialism, they relentlessly sought to impose on the Vietnamese people their dogma of class warfare and proletarian dictatorship. Finally came the massive intervention by the United States, inserting into our struggle for independence and freedom its own overpowering dynamic. These three forces combined to distort the basic nature of Vietnam's emergence from colonialism, ensuring that the struggle would be more complex and bloodier than that of so many other colonies which achieved nationhood during mid-century."

In this book, you definitely will get a S. Vietnamese diplomat's point of view. I was hoping for more on the common man's outlook, the characteristics of the Vietnamese people themselves, and the demographics of the country, but it is not provided at all in this tome. I think this would have done a lot to make the actions of the S. Vietnamese government understandable, if not excusable.

Also, another weakness of the book is that Mr. Bui is always quick to point out American missteps, but rarely expounds on S. Vietnamese imperfections. For example, he writes that one huge problem was corruption. But he never fully elaborates on the nature of this corruption.

The story is easy to read except for when you start to get towards the end. The reason being that no more new insights will be given, and you already know what the disastrous outcome will be.

"In the Jaws of History" is most valuable for Bui Diem's account of his early years in the North, when the "great dilemma in the lives for all nationalists was coming to a head". Nationalists saw collaboration with the French as "repugnant", but then so was "giving the nation ... over to a future ruled by Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, and the Indochinese Communist Party" who were then murdering nationalist leaders in Hanoi and along the Red River. Giap's role in the purge of the nationalist Dai Viet and VNQDD needs to be kept in mind by those who tend to accept as fact the popular communist myths woven around its leadership figures. "In the Jaws of History" is perhaps best read along with Bui Tin's memoirs "Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel".

This book offers a compelling and fascinating read. The perspective is one we don't see in most of our histories of the Vietnam conflict: the view of a South Vietnam nationalist who tries to save his nation from the Communists. The absence of bitterness, the appraisals of both the weakness and strength of his South Vietnamese compatriots, his views on the American intervention: all are fascinating.

Overall, this is one of the best books I have ever read about the conflict: it's right up there with Stanley Karnow's well-regarded book.

" A Viet Cong Memoir" is an intriguing historical account of the "other side" of the Vietnam War. Mr. Truong was a member of the National Liberation Front, as opposed to an actual military guerilla. The media always referred to the NLF as "the political arm of the Viet Cong". That always struck me as a dark, typical Vietnam type mystery. With "VCM", the NLF has a human face to go with the mystery. Right from the outset, any Vietnam vet as myself must take a story told by a VC with several grains of salt! Mr. Troung is beyond a doubt engaging in a bit of revisionist history, painting the indigenous (Southern) Vietnamese NLF in a fairer light than the more taciturn, hard core Communist Northern invaders. (...) A decent awareness of the conflict is needed to fully appreciate the book. With all these constraints aside, "VCM" rates as 5 star history. This should be required reading for serious students of the War, almost on a par with Bernard Fall's epic "Street Without Joy". The reasons are many: Troung is an excellent writer, both at once engagingly formal yet abidingly down to earth. Well educated, well connected and intelligent, he was involved with the NLF from the early 1950s-the French era of the War. The reader senses Troung's commitment to Ho Chi Minh's cause right from the time he meets "Uncle Ho" as a student in Paris. I believe that he believed in Ho's aphorisms- "liberty sweet liberty", "victory great victory", etc. Since Troung was not a jungle guerilla, the military side of the conflict is not emphasized here. Four major aspects of the War are mentioned; these are the book's strengths. 1) The reader will understand how the nation of South Vietnam ran and eventually disintegrated. The author paints a grim picture of a string of venal, petty and authoritative Saigon regimes. Troung came from an upper class Southern family and was well placed to report accurately.He even does time in a dank Saigon prison. Typical for Vietnam, his wife springs him with a bribe! 2) For a foreigner, the author had an excellent (!) grasp of the American political scene. The Vietnamese must have seen the U.S. letting the War slip away long before we did. 3) "VCM" is the only place I have read a fair, balanced and nuanced version of the back room deals at the 5-year debacle known as "The Paris Peace Talks". There was actually an ebb and flow, a system of sorts. Did Henry Kissinger blink? Was he outfoxed? Or, as the author seems to suggest, were he and Nixon just out of maneuvering room? 4) Critically, Troung takes pains to paint the South Vietnam oriented NLF as a kinder, gentler "third way" between the real bad guys (the Saigon regimes and their American cronies) and the hard core Marxists from Hanoi. The NLF wanted to set up a quasi-independent government in Saigon that would allow for the obvious differences between the 2 Vietnams. The infighting was intense and the "good guys", if that's what they really were, got stiffed good and hard. I chose to take Troung at his word; other readers may disagree. As a finale, "VCM" offers a rare, poignant, and touching chapter on the refugees known as the "boat people". I used to think that "Vietnam" consisted of that remote, little dusty Engineer camp I lived in for a year. Then I started reading other folk's far (!) more earthy accounts of RVN. 30 years after coming home, I continue to be ASTOUNDED by how many stories and sides there are to this foggy and mysterious place. "VCM" makes some sense out of the mystery. Then again, this being Vietnam, it may deepen it! Night always did fall quickly over there.

I read this book when it was first published and have used it as a reference as both a student and teacher of the Vietnam Conflict for many years. Before having traveled to Vietnam, this was one of the first sources I'd encountered that put a human face on a former enemy that other texts and media reports had failed to provide. The text gives the reader an excellent view of one man's perspective in the National Liberation Front and shows its readers an outlook rarely seen from an American political sentiment. Of particular interest to me were the author's personal accounts of espionage during the war and the physical and emotional affect American fire power had on the Vietnamese combatants.

"A Viet Cong Memoir" by Truong Nhu Tang (Former Minister of Justice) offers some rare glimpses into the Vietnam War. I haven't finished reading the book just yet, but did scan the last chapter to read the punch line. Truong Nhu Tang, fed up with the mismanagement of Vietnam, he 'lost the faith' and became disavowed, and fled to Paris, France in 1978. Albert Pham Nooc Thao, a close friend of the author and fellow Communist, was Chief of Security for South Vietnams armed forces when Diem was in power. Albert worked hard to institute programs in Vietnam to anger the civilians and make them more prone to blame the government and join the NLF. He also bird dogged and acted as Diem's bloodhound to locate officers and officials who didn't support Diem. What a Trojan Horse! I wonder how many other high ranking RVN officials also were on the other side, using their positions to spy, bring charges of corruption on the RVN gov't, get rid of competent officers and officials by McCarthyism (accusing them of being communists) and cause general confusion?

Zandman's historical part of this book is great. It gives you a great perspective of his life during the Holocust. More background would have been great. Got the feeling that his business associates have been less than desirable chaps.

An ageless and inspiring story of determination, survival, and ultimately triumph. Zandman's story brings home minute details about being Jewish during this horrific period of time--right down to the mindset of most Jewish families in Poland. This book clearly illustrates how subtle, calculating, and conniving Hitler was as he, not all at once, but gradually moved the Jews from their homes, to the ghetto and finally the death camps.
After I read this, the first time, I wanted nothing more than to meet Felix Zandman personally. Even the title inspired me to always push forward and to never give up.

As a stock analyst, I've seen many CEO's and heard many success stories. This is a heartwarming story of dedication and triumph unlike that of any other business executive. Despite spending his youth in hiding from Nazis, Dr. Zandman manages to get a PhD., move to America and found a small engineering company that ends up being one of the world's largest suppliers of electronics components.

This book tells two stories--one of a young black man who was raised in the tough Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn and who became an accomplished computer hacker and then computer security expert for a New York company, and the other is the technical details of how he carried out his computer hacking. I was very interested in this young man's personal story, but the technical parts were beyond my comprehension and I found myself skipping several chapters and parts of chapters. If you are computer savvy, this book may be something you will really enjoy, but if not you may only enjoy the personal side of it, as I did.

Ejovi Nuwere is dangling outside a two-story building, gripped by the hand of his weeping teacher. A moment before he had jumped off the edge and now, hanging there, he belatedly decides that living on the edge is preferable to the air.

Hacker Cracker is the story of Ejovi Nuwere's life on the edge, or many edges: His world of drugs, gangs, and depression; the murky world of computer hackers; and his current life as a computer security expert.

This is an immensely satisfying story about an American life -- not hacking or computers.

We get a look at what happens when any person -- yes, even a young black kid from Bed Stuy -- becomes an expert at something the world needs, in this case, computer security. We see how excellence leads to opportunity. We see how a strong family has given a boy the tools he needs to become a man.

Ejovi and co-author David Chanoff do not reflect much on Ejovi's experiences and perhaps that is good. Ejovi Nuwere is still in his 20s and maybe it is too early to analyze. Yet, it is impossible not to wonder what he makes of all that has happened to him.

This book makes you want to have coffee with Ejovi and meet his grandmother, uncle, and stepfather. Just to hear what they have to say.

I liked Ejovi throughout the whole book, but I came to admire him after I read the last chapter, about his experiences at the World Trade Center on September 11. In this chapter, at last he gives us what we hope to learn from him -- and what we hope HE will learn. The end is a most satisfying beginning for Ejovi Nuwere's life on the edge.

Outstanding first work from Ejovi Nuwere.

The title "Hacker Cracker" suggests a story about computer crime. Indeed, the book is much more than that. It's a story of growing up in a crime ridden neighborhood. It's about the confidence gained from martial arts. It's about a boy coming of age. And - also - it's about the underground hacker culture.

This really is an amazing work from such a young author, even with the help of a veteran contributor. The insights are keen, and the ability to weave lessons from San Shou boxing through computer hacking through the revelations of the horror of 9/11 reveal an outstanding intellect and wisdom beyond the author's 20 years.

The book is a quick read, and appropriate for a much broader audience than just folks interested in computers. All the technical terms are clearly explained in the text and a glossary, and there is no assumption of advanced knowledge of computers.

Buy the book, read it, and enjoy it!