Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious and a classic
Review: I first came across this book in my high school library in the very early 90s or late 80s. It was on a pile of books being given away due to water damage; I picked it up more or less at random and ended up later that day nearly being thrown out of a class for laughing out loud too loudly during reading time.
I have held onto this book for years since, recommending it to people but unable to actually find a new copy. By now my copy - waterdamaged and distinctly battered to begin with - has definitely seen better days. Despite my recommendations I have not loaned it out but guarded it jealously, only allowing houseguests to read it on the premises or taking it with me when a houseguest to others. (The sole exceptions to this have been my mother and grandfather, both of whom I know where they live.)
My reaction upon finding that it had been finally reprinted was to buy copies for all of my closest friends as birthday and thank you and just because gifts. I'm next on the list.
Roger Hall's comedic autobiography of his time spent in the OSS rings true in a way that only those who have stared in the face of human incompetence and kept a sense of humour can. Whether he is describing singlehandedly building and then testing a road while on assignment as an instructor in the mountains or he is describing the reactions of the British head of the parachute school to his playing a religious song under awkward circumstances, it's the sort of book that will make you literally laugh out loud. I felt as though I could see the expressions on people's faces from his description - no mean feat, as I'm difficult to impress or make laugh.
Pick it up while it's still in stock. Honour a veteran today - and get in a good laugh while you're at it.
Rating:
Summary: The funniest book of all time
Review: I first read this book 5 years ago, and I have been waiting for someone to republish it ever since. My father-in-law has an original copy and everyone in the family reads it. I don't think it ever gets put down. It is the funniest book I have ever read, and I read alot. I almost got kicked off a public bus because I could not stop laughing. It just does not get any better than this. I hope someone considers publishing his other two works:
"All My Pretty Ones" and "19". They are both excellent and hilarious (almost as good You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger). I would love to add them to my collection.
Rating:
Summary: So very glad it's back in print!
Review: I first read this book in the summer of 1976, when I was at Shattuck School in Faribault, MN. I thought it was an absolute hoot, and was I ever delighted to find that my high school had a copy, too! After I graduated HS, I had my eyes open for a copy, but for a long, long, long time the only ones I could find for sale had exorbitant price tags. How this was ever let go out of print escapes me.
Rating:
Summary: Laugh 'till you cry...
Review: I first read this book thirty years ago and laughed 'till I cried, it was that funny. I reread it recently and laughed 'till I cried again! Then I read some of it aloud to my wife and daughters and they laughed 'till they choked! The author has the turn of phrase, pacing, set-up, and cleverness of a stand-up comedian. The book is an extremely irreverent look at the author's brief career in the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) during WWII. While it does have a military setting, even the most ardent pacifist will still find it hysterically entertaining. There is no killing, no graphic violence, no violence at all above the level of a practical joke, and a lot of poking fun at the military/espionage establishment. It is also a fascinating look behind the scenes of that same establishment. The book is a delight, and I am sure you will be reading parts of it aloud to your friends and family. I have never encountered a more humorously entertaining book. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger ....again !!!!!!
Review: I read this book when it first came out and thought at the time anyone this Brave with a sense of humor like this and would dedicate
his first book to "Whom It My Concern" certainly was someone I would want watching my back in Vietnam. It was much better reading the second time around. Hope to see more from Mr. Hall.
Rating:
Summary: You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger ....again !!!!!!
Review: I read this book when it first came out and thought at the time anyone this Brave with a sense of humor like this and would dedicate
his first book to "Whom It My Concern" certainly was someone I would want watching my back in Vietnam. It was much better reading the second time around. Hope to see more from Mr. Hall.
Rating:
Summary: They threw me out of the library for laughing too loud
Review: I read this forty years ago in the public library ... or at least, I started reading it there, until the librarian ordered me to leave because I couldn't stop laughing. Now that I've read it again I'm still laughing, but I'm also impressed in a way I couldn't have been back then because I was too young to understand the serious subtext of Roger Hall's memoir. When you're fighting a just war, a war against monsters, you still need a sense of humor and perspective. That doesn't detract from the willingness to serve and to struggle; it brings much-needed humanity to the effort in the midst of chaos and suffering. Like a lot of soldiers -- my own father among them -- Roger didn't see combat, but his contribution to the war effort was just as genuine as if he'd stormed Omaha Beach ... and he did it with style! This is a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: They threw me out of the library for laughing too loud
Review: I read this forty years ago in the public library ... or at least, I started reading it there, until the librarian ordered me to leave because I couldn't stop laughing. Now that I've read it again I'm still laughing, but I'm also impressed in a way I couldn't have been back then because I was too young to understand the serious subtext of Roger Hall's memoir. When you're fighting a just war, a war against monsters, you still need a sense of humor and perspective. That doesn't detract from the willingness to serve and to struggle; it brings much-needed humanity to the effort in the midst of chaos and suffering. Like a lot of soldiers -- my own father among them -- Roger didn't see combat, but his contribution to the war effort was just as genuine as if he'd stormed Omaha Beach ... and he did it with style! This is a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Popular Book at the Army Intelligence School
Review: In August 1964, when I arrived at Fort Holabird, MD, the home of the US Army Intelligence School (USAINTS) I was pleasantly surprised. The place was more like a small college campus than a military installation, except for the mess hall which served better food than any institution of higher learning. There was a small but excellent library that even had a very good selection of classical music.
The most popular book in the library was "You're Stepping On My Cloak and Dagger." Not only were the library copies well-worn, the bookstore had trouble keeping copies in stock. The training portions of the book were so familiar that everyone loved the book. This book is to the intelligence business what M.A.S.H. is to combat surgeons.
No one who has ever been in the intelligence business (about 40 years for me) could read this book without laughing aloud throughout. I think that even readers without this personal experience will find the book hilarious.
I have given away numerous copies of this book over the last four decades. My last copy has been missing for many years (an unreturned loan) so I was ecstatic to find the book back in print. I have ordered several copies so that I will never again be without this long-time favorite volume.
Rating:
Summary: I am so glad this has been reprinted
Review: One of the funniest books I've read in any genre. If Dave Barry had been eligible for enlistment in 1942 this is the the kind of book he might have written. Roger Hall's account of his time in the O.S.S. is full of dry wit, bawdy humor, accute assessments of the Army's intelligence operations during World War II, and his own vivid personality. The pace is fast, people and situations are clearly delineated in a few deft words, and the irreverence only heightens the sobering reality of military life in a time of war. Thirty years after I first read it this book still makes me laugh.
|
