his books, the main character is a man named Jack Ryan, who is best described as "a family guy and president's buddy"(Cohen 3). One interesting part about Jack Ryan, his wife, and other Clancy characters and story lines is that they often have a lot to do with Clancy and his own life. For starters, Jack Ryan's wife is an eye surgeon, the same job as Clancy's first wife Wanda. Another example is Jack Ryan himself, who represents Clancy and the type of life that he has always dreamed of living, "You put a lot of yourself in all your characters Ryan has more of me than most. I made a conscious decision that he was going to be a normal guy with a wife and kids that he cared about. He did the best he could in a work job."(Greenberg 66). A life of military involvement and international mystery was the kinda of life that Clancy aspired to live when he was younger. Because that life was not possible for Clancy, he has chosen to use his own writing as an escape into that life. Clancy began to do what he loves best, write popular stories, incorporating his "all-consuming interest in military hardware"(Zaleski 2). When asked about that deep interest, a friend of Clancy's was quoted saying that "Clancy likes weapons the way Hugh Hefner like women"(Zaleski 2). Tom Clancy himself simply says, "I have shown people that if a dream is all you have, you still have a hell of a lot. I have shown people you are only a beat away from your dreams coming true"(Cohen 115). In addition to writing multiple best sellers, a number of Clancy's books have been adapted into movies and television series. Clancy also created his own company called Red Entertainment, which markets software games and other multimedia developments. These are all based on books or ideas by Tom Clancy. "Ten years ago, the world was a very different place and it's changed--in historical terms--virtually overnight" (Cohen 114), said Clancy when asked to comment on why the expansi...
