Snowden: The Only Safe Place Is on the Run

by Kieran Fitzgerald, Oliver Stone, David Talbot (Foreword)

A courageous look at a historic figure.

From Oscar®-winner Oliver Stone, Snowden is a riveting personal look at one of the most polarizing figures of the twenty-first century, the man responsible for what has been described as the most far-reaching security breach in US intelligence history. This official motion picture screenplay edition, written by Kieran Fitzgerald and Oliver Stone, includes a foreword by David Talbot and dozens of photos from the film.

In 2013, Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) quietly leaves his job at the NSA and flies to Hong Kong to meet with journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson), and filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to reveal US government cyber surveillance programs of epic proportions. A top security contractor with virtuoso programming skills, Ed has discovered that a virtual mountain of data on digital communication is being assembled—not just from foreign governments and terror groups, but from ordinary Americans.

Disillusioned with his work in the intelligence community, Snowden meticulously gathers hundreds of thousands of secret documents that will expose the full extent of the abuses. Leaving his longtime love Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) behind, Ed finds the courage to act on his principles. Snowden opens the door on the untold story of Edward Snowden, examining the forces that turned a conservative young eager patriot into a historic whistleblower and posing provocative questions about which liberties we are willing to trade for protection.

192 pages, Hardcover

Published September 16, 2016

Reviews

[Garth Mailman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt bears an uncanny resemblance to his subject here but it is Edward Snowden himself in a 40-minute Q&A accompanying the movie who clearly and succinctly summarizes the need to protect individual privacy. The events of 9/11 served to empower the security establishment and as we saw in Toronto when a city of 3.5 million was held hostage for a G-20 Summit such empowerment can soon lead to Orwellian-like heights of surveillance and repression. In the days of Stalinist Russia neighbours were encouraged to spy and tattle on neighbour and even I have borne witness to the official snooping of people's private mail. But modern communications: telephone, E-mail, blogs, and social media have provided unparalleled opportunities for the invasion of privacy. Given sufficient empowerment in the name of National Security Civil Rights can be bull-dozed into oblivion. The argument that one who has done nothing wrong has nothing to fear should not justify the invasion of another's personhood.

Yes, the above was written in reaction to the movie but applies equally to the book. The actor’s image appears on the cover.

Sadly with the repeal of the net neutrality act Trump has destroyed one of the pillars upon which our freedom is based.

Alas, the shooting script has been converted to text here. Only the prologue is worth reading. If you’ve read Shakespeare or any play you know that scripts were meant to be performed, see the movie.

[Debra Daniels-Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't watch the movie first, and I usually don't read screen plays, but if you want to know more about dialogue, this is one way to look at it. I think whistleblowers get a bad rap in this country. Edward Snowden simply told American's the NSA was spying on them bit time, and guess what? Turns out most Americans don't really care. It's a great story and a great piece to read before watching the actual movie.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the movie when I saw. It's a hard story to tell without either demonizing or lionizing the person, but the team of Kieran Fitzgerald and Oliver Stone found a way to tell a fairly politically neutral story. It is presented as just the story of person and gives you enough of the perspectives as well as a personalization of Ed Snowden and his arguments that the rightness or wrongness of his actions and views are almost entirely up to the viewer/reader. It is the same thing with the entire debate over liberty vs security, privacy vs transparency, and a variety of other issues.

The movie should be seen and for people interested in learning how to tell a story like this, the screenplay should absolutely be read.

[Lexi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird experience reading a screenplay...I almost feel like it would be better just to watch the movie and see how everything actually plays out. Very intense story though - I learned a bit and its definitely thought-provoking.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was added to the book club list when the one we really hoped to read get having its publication delayed. A much easier but less satisfying read then anticipated.