Information helps the reader sketch out a moral architecture ... The description of Winner’s arrest and interrogation by the F.B.I. in I Am Not Your Enemy is perhaps the most remarkable piece of writing in the book. The thought process of someone who has been seized by armed officers is deftly traced ... Far from dry ... Winner is an empathetic and often funny chronicler of her fellow inmates’ stories.
If she was driven by high-minded — and possibly prescient — ideals about protecting democracy, why does Winner bog her narrative down with what seem like attempts at explanatory, or perhaps even in her mind exculpatory, reasons for the less-than-logical planning and execution of her crime? ... Her efforts to support her personal disillusionment with informed sourcing make parts of the book read like a compilation of college essays, replete with dutiful quotes from authoritative voices ... Winner’s prose lacks the verbal virtuosity and nervy wit that seems to flow so readily when she speaks. This first-time author could have done with more editorial guidance. More show, less tell.
Winner eloquently defends her choices, takes full responsibility, and comes across as a thoughtful young woman just trying to do what’s right. This personal account complements other recent media treatments of Winner’s case...and fully discloses her shameful treatment at the hands of the government she tried to serve. This is important and cautionary testimony.
