Book
Life Undercover
- mentions
- 16
- people
- 2
- podcast
- 1
- episodes
- 3
- critical mentions
- 0
It's called Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA, and that doesn't really strike me as a typical recipe for success as a CIA operative, being extremely empathetic, or am I wrong about that?
Steve Levitt · People I (Mostly) Admire · Apr 2021 Listen at 13:55 What they say about it
- Attuned to the pain of others“attuned to the pain of others”3
- Loved the book“absolutely loved your book”3
The best things said about it
A second thing that I found really surprising about your book was the suggestion that a lot of terror groups have close to—or within reach of—some kind of nuclear capabilities.
Steve Levitt People I (Mostly) Admire · Apr 2021 A lot of young women read this book and reach out to me, and I think that on a personal level, if I were just their friend or their mom, there’s not a lot of personal happiness to be had on the simple deep personal level doing this work.
Amaryllis Fox spent nearly a decade working as a CIA operative, recounting her experiences in the best-selling book, Life Undercover, Coming of Age in the CIA.
Steve Levitt People I (Mostly) Admire · Jan 2022 Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
10
5
1
How it comes up
Why people recommend it
Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox is a memoir detailing the author's nearly a decade-long career as a clandestine CIA operative. On People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt praised the book and discussed Fox's background, noting how her profound empathy—which began with her reaction to major world events and the suffering of others—was a central theme. Levitt expressed surprise at how empathy could serve as a recipe for success in such a brutal career path, and he highlighted a shocking section of the book suggesting that terror groups were close to acquiring nuclear capabilities. Levitt also referenced a poignant lesson from Fox's mentor regarding the harsh reality of leaving the agency behind, where past relationships and exceptional performance awards dissolve instantly. Fox noted that many young women read her work and reach out to her, though she openly discusses the lack of simple personal happiness to be found in that line of work.
Every mention
Steve Levitt Amaryllis Fox spent nearly a decade working as a CIA operative, recounting her experiences in the best-sell… 13
Discussed
“So I absolutely loved your book.”
Discussed
“Amaryllis Fox spent nearly a decade working as a CIA operative, recounting her experiences in the best-selling book, Life Undercover, Coming of Age in the CIA.”
Discussed
“It's so clear from how you talk and the way you describe yourself that you are very attuned to the pain of others, whether it's the suffering of the Burmese people or the deep shock and pain you felt over 9-11, which you described in your book. It's called Life Undercover, Coming of Age in the CIA.”
Discussed
“So I absolutely loved your book.”
Discussed
“Why shouldn't I believe that your book is something very different than it appears?”
Discussed
“Fox spent nearly a decade working as a CIA operative recounting her experiences in the bestselling book life undercover coming of age in the CIA”
Discussed
“it's so clear from how you talk and the way you describe yourself that you are very attuned to the pain of others whether it's the suffering of the Burmese people or the Deep shock and pain you felt over 9/11 which you describe in your book it's called life undercover coming of age in the CIA”
Discussed
“It's so clear from how you talk and the way you describe yourself that you are very attuned to the pain of others, whether it's the suffering of the Burmese people or the deep shock and pain you felt over 9/11, which you describe in your book.”
Discussed
“It's called Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA, and that doesn't really strike me as a typical recipe for success as a CIA operative, being extremely empathetic, or am I wrong about that?”
Discussed
“so I absolutely loved your book so on the most rising and I was really stunned at the extensiveness and the creativity of the training you were given on What's called the farm”
Discussed
“so a second thing that I found really surprising about your book was the suggestion that a lot of Terror groups have close to within the reach or within the reach access to some kind of nuclear capabilities and as one example of this you mentioned that the Russians somehow had lost track of over a 100 suitcase sized nuclear”
Discussed
“A second thing that I found really surprising about your book was the suggestion that a lot of terror groups have close to—or within reach of—some kind of nuclear capabilities.”
Discussed
“I think you don't explicitly talk about it in the book, but there's such a brutality somehow associated with the career path you were on this year: you give up everything from your past, you spend all day masquerading as something you're not, and when you leave, as you described, you're gone and it disappears.”
Amaryllis Fox A lot of young women read this book and reach out to me, and I think that on a personal level, if I were ju… 3
Discussed
“A lot of young women read this book and reach out to me.”
Discussed
“I think I read in the book about leaving on the last day and what my mentor had told me, which was like, 'When you leave, however much you think you did good work here and you have relationships and you did something important and you got these exceptional performance awards and la-di-da, when you leave, it’s like getting out”
Discussed
“A lot of young women read this book and reach out to me, and I think that on a personal level, if I were just their friend or their mom, there’s not a lot of personal happiness to be had on the simple deep personal level doing this work.”
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“Amaryllis Fox spent nearly a decade working as a CIA operative, recounting her experiences in the best-selling book, Life Undercover, Coming of Age in the CIA.”
Plugged
“It's called Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA.”
Passing
“Amaryllis Fox spent nearly a decade working as a CIA operative, recounting her experiences in the bestselling book, Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA.”