‘Spy Daughter, Queer Girl’: Part Memoir, Part Spy Thriller, Part Mini-History of Being Young and Gay in the ’80s
Ms. Magazine: Sophia Glock
The author has lived a life shrouded in secrets—secrets she never asked to keep, secrets that alter the course of her life, shape her world view, and corrode her most intimate bonds, specifically that which she shares with her father, Mike Absher. This isn’t a story about secrets, but rather a testament to what happens when one commits to unwinding those secrets. The very nature of memoir is to reveal and make vulnerable—which is a perfect subversion of another type of work: spying for the CIA.
Leslie Absher: Spy Daughter, Queer Girl at the Commonwealth Club of California
Commonwealth Club talk with Michelle Meow video recording. This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.
Spy Daughter, Queer Girl: Leslie Absher’s Poignant Memoir
Athens Insider: Diana Farr Louis
More than a poignant memoir, Spy Daughter, Queer Girl is a thrilling detective story where the stakes are both unique to the child of an intelligence officer and painfully universal. Leslie Absher unravels deep-seated secrets: of her family, her identity, and her father’s role in Greece’s CIA-backed junta.
Leslie Absher’s Spy Daughter, Queer Girl
Bay Area Reporter: Laura Moreno
When Leslie Absher was ten years old, she asked her father what he did for a living. He responded that he was in the Army. Later he said he worked for the State Department. His rotating stories made her suspicious.
‘Spy Daughter, Queer Girl’: East Bay-based author Leslie Absher talks coming out to CIA agent father
Mercury News: Stuart Miller
The Oakland-based writer recounts investigating her father’s life to come to terms with him and learn to live openly as her true self.
Leslie Absher Writes about Growing up with a CIA Dad
KALW Radio Morning Edition
Oakland author Leslie Absher reads from her new book, “Spy Daughter, Queer Girl.” It’s about what it was like to grow up with the CIA dad in a house of secrets.
My Father the Spy
I was interviewed by a Greek newspaper this past summer. The piece came out on the front page of Kathimerini, an important news outlet in Greece.
