Wen Ho Lee lives with his wife in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Helen Zia, an award-winning journalist and author of Asian American Dreams, has covered Asian American communities and social and political movements for more than twenty years. Born in New Jersey and a graduate of Princeton's first co-educational class, she lives in the San Francisco Bay area.
In a story that would seem fantastic even if it were fictional, the Taiwan-born Lee relates his traumatic saga of being accused by the government of the high crime of espionage, detailing his life before, during and after the accusation. Lee, a "patriotic" American scientist who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, helped develop our national defense capabilities and also assisted the FBI to help protect U.S. nuclear secrets. He was shocked to find himself the subject of scrutiny. Nevertheless, based on nothing but hollow government allegations, apparent racism and the need for a scapegoat, Lee explains how Congress' and the national media's portrayal of him as a traitor more dangerous than the Rosenbergs resulted in ruining his life and reputation. Though not convicted, he spent nearly a year in 1999 shackled and chained in prison. Now that his case has been settled, he is free to tell his story, and Stella's reading of it is superb. He chose to avoid an obvious Chinese accent, opting instead to deliver the text using only the stiffness associated with someone whose first language is not English. This makes for a performance that is so convincing, it is shocking to hear his voice sans this effect when he reads Zia's acknowledgements at the book's end. Simultaneous release with the Hyperion hardcover. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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