Rating: 
Summary: A great look at life on the edge
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: a worthwhile story, but an unsatisfying book
Review: First of all, this has to be the dumbest name for a book, ever. I mean, come on. You just have to wonder what they were thinking. As for the actual contents, well... Mr Nuwere certainly has some attention-keeping stories to recount, and he and Mr Chanoff do a workmanlike job of telling them, even if the writing doesn't reach out and grab the reader at any point. But considering Nuwere's impressive life--he went from an overcrowded apartment in Bed Stuy to a job in a Manhattan bank by the time he was in his early twenties--not a great deal of style is required to hold ones attention. Not often do we get to hear a personal account of what it's like to battle through inner-city neighborhoods and schools, and Nuwere does an impressive job of conveying the difficulties of his (and millions of other folks') situation, without making any kind of a play for sympathy. That's just how it is, he tells us. Nor, for that matter, are we often exposed to an inside account of the hacker community; and the book has some of that too, as Nuwere parlays his warez-trading experience in AOL chat-rooms into a part-time job managing security for a small ISP and ultimately into big-time employment in a bank IT department. However, despite all this interesting stuff the book doesn't really hold together. For one thing, it's hard to write an autobiography when you haven't hit twenty-five; neither Nuwere nor Chanoff seem to know quite what's important in Nuwere's story, or if they think they do they don't do a particularly good job of presenting it. As a result, the book reads more like a series of vignettes than a consistent narrative, even as it takes us reasonably completely through all the events of Nuwere's life. There's the hard times as a young lad, there's the forays into computers, and at the end there's a fair amount about martial arts (Nuwere is also a San Shou kickboxing national champion); but the bits barely cohere into a linear story, let alone come together to illustrate any sort of point. The inclusion of a chapter dealing with the September 11th terrorist attacks at the end of the book, which seems to be trying to sum things up, doesn't help at all. Yes, you can say that not everyone's life is a coherent narrative, to say nothing of one that will offer elucidation and improvement to the common run of folks; but I say, not everyone's life gets published in book form. And this one doesn't quite work in book form. I don't say don't read it at all. But the most compelling reason I would suggest for looking into it is to hear about Brooklyn schools and streets; if you're looking for an inside account of the hacker community you may well be disappointed. As you might be, I'm afraid, if you're just looking for an all-around good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun to remember but no substance
Review: Hacker Cracker. Just the name caught my eye and so I bought it thinking it would be a similar to Masters of Deception or Mitnick story, but it wasn't. The entire book is just Mr. Nuwere recounting his exploits from America Online to large corporations, throwing in a good bit about the mean streets of New York, and rounding out (literally) with some non-relevant martial arts. After reading it I was really let down. I was looking for something a little more definitive about computer security, the evolution of it from the time he was a kid to now, etc. Sad to say Masters of Deception was a better book than this but nothing will ever come close to the writing talent, intrigue, and plain storytelling than Cliff Stoll's book the Cuckoo's Egg. Maybe in twenty years if Mr. Nuwere wrote another book and explained what he's learned after spending some time OUT of the mean streets then perhaps it'd be a better book. Right now it's just a feel good made for TV movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book-- Wrong Title
Review: I loved this book but viewed it more as a coming of age tale than a hacker's manual. It's about growing from a mixed up, sometimes shallow, youth into a man, with all the adventures that entails. The reader can actually see the protagonist growing, step by step, hit or miss, toward honor and maturity. It's fascinating! Why does one person succeed while another fails?
The title, "Hacker Cracker", is confusing however. Hacking is just a small part of Mr. Nuwere's adventures. And I do agree that the blacking out of text in one section is frustrating (They could have thought of some other way to get around the problem.)
I still think the book is well worth reading. It's one of the most interesting books I've read this year, and I read alot.
Rating: 
Summary: Why bother?
Review: Insipid. When I saw this book I was interested by it seeing that Ejovi Nuwere was from Brooklyn where I grew up. Sounded like a good story...I'll read it I said.
Well, I was very disappointed. The book might as well be titled "My pride in leaving the inner-city and becoming a proto-yuppie". The writing of the book is at the level of Sports Illustrated for Kids and the depth of the book rises to a level little higher than Britney Spears pop music. Yes, he was from the 'hood but there is no emotion in his writing, no grit. The characters in his life seem plastic and secondary...certainly they are not, but Ejovi relegated them to this role so he could tell his American Dream how to become a content yuppie story. Let's hear more about the thoughts of his mother, his uncle, his brother, his neighborhood. Or perhaps this is too much to ask of him... Did he even know what was going on in the world or was he too plugged into his own egotistical cyber world that he did not live in the real world? As he said, he had a choice...to turn outward and be bad or turn inward and be essentially a reclusive person. What a choice...just imagine if Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X said that. Well, Ejovi turned inward and this self-centerdness is evident in this book.
If you want to learn about life in the inner-city pick up Sanyika Shakur's autobiography "Monster" or a Tupac Shakur CD, but please don't bother with this soulless, puerile book.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try but doesn't come through
Review: It attempts to be great but really nothing interesting. Mostly about his growing up in the bronx and if he does talk about computers then you have to know computer to know what he's talking about. I t tries to be good but fails because it's to much of a survey of his life in stead of a telling of it. skim over it if you can find it in your library but don't bother paying to read it because you'll surely be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is not for everyone
Review: Most of the people who've read this book can't relate to the technical content. I'm a few years older than the author, but I can relate to his die hard passion for technology and his sincere interest in understanding how things work. If you read the entire book you'll also notice that the author is helping you get started in the world of hacking. If you can't relate to the technical aspect of this book, it probably is going to bore you to death. This is a book you should read if you're interested in understanding the hacker methodology and how it developed pre - dot.com years. The book also helps you get an understanding of the types of hackers and their skill sets...
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Insightful
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Insightful
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Insightful
Review: 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!
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