diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 70fb81a..50c1dc3 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,18 +1,21 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"crypto"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"os"
+	"strconv"
 )
 
 func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 
-	hdrBuff := make([]byte, BlockSize)
-
+	tarInfos := []TarInfo{}
 	for _, arg := range flag.Args() {
 		func() {
 			// Open the tar archive
@@ -22,29 +25,195 @@ func main() {
 			}
 			defer fh.Close()
 
-			// prep our buffer
-			buf := hdrBuff[:]
-			copy(buf, zeroBlock)
-
-			if _, err := io.ReadFull(fh, buf); err != nil {
+			fi, err := fh.Stat()
+			if err != nil {
 				log.Fatal(err)
 			}
+
+			ti := TarInfo{
+				Name: arg,
+				Size: fi.Size(),
+			}
+
+			for {
+				buf, err := readHeader(fh)
+				if err != nil {
+					if err == io.EOF {
+						break
+					}
+					log.Fatal(err)
+				}
+
+				if !verifyChecksum(buf) {
+					log.Fatal(ErrHeader)
+				}
+
+				s := slicer(buf)
+				name := cString(s.next(100))
+				s.next(8) // mode
+				s.next(8) // uid
+				s.next(8) // gid
+				size, err := octal(s.next(12))
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				e := Entry{
+					Header: buf,
+					Name:   name,
+					Size:   size,
+				}
+				log.Printf("%#v", e)
+				ti.Entries = append(ti.Entries, e)
+
+				// TODO(vbatts) some pax types need further reading, for their headers ...
+				// XXX this where it is broken
+				if _, err := fh.Seek(size, 1); err != nil {
+					log.Fatal(err)
+				}
+			}
+
+			tarInfos = append(tarInfos, ti)
 		}()
 	}
+	if *flOutputJson != "" {
+		fh, err := os.Create(*flOutputJson)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		defer fh.Close()
+		jsonBuf, err := json.Marshal(tarInfos)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		_, err = fh.Write(jsonBuf)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 const BlockSize = 512
 
 var (
 	zeroBlock = make([]byte, BlockSize)
+	hdrBuff   = make([]byte, BlockSize)
+	ErrHeader = errors.New("archive/tar: invalid tar header")
 
 	flOutputJson = flag.String("o", "", "output json of the tar archives")
 )
 
+// cString parses bytes as a NUL-terminated C-style string.
+// If a NUL byte is not found then the whole slice is returned as a string.
+//
+// copied from 'archive/tar/reader.go'
+func cString(b []byte) string {
+	n := 0
+	for n < len(b) && b[n] != 0 {
+		n++
+	}
+	return string(b[0:n])
+}
+
+// parse the octal value from the byte array
+//
+// copied from 'archive/tar/reader.go'
+func octal(b []byte) (int64, error) {
+	// Check for binary format first.
+	if len(b) > 0 && b[0]&0x80 != 0 {
+		var x int64
+		for i, c := range b {
+			if i == 0 {
+				c &= 0x7f // ignore signal bit in first byte
+			}
+			x = x<<8 | int64(c)
+		}
+		return x, nil
+	}
+
+	// Because unused fields are filled with NULs, we need
+	// to skip leading NULs. Fields may also be padded with
+	// spaces or NULs.
+	// So we remove leading and trailing NULs and spaces to
+	// be sure.
+	b = bytes.Trim(b, " \x00")
+
+	if len(b) == 0 {
+		return 0, nil
+	}
+	x, err := strconv.ParseUint(cString(b), 8, 64)
+	return int64(x), err
+}
+
+// copied from 'archive/tar/reader.go'
+func verifyChecksum(header []byte) bool {
+	given, err := octal(header[148:156])
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	unsigned, signed := checksum(header)
+	return given == unsigned || given == signed
+}
+
+// POSIX specifies a sum of the unsigned byte values, but the Sun tar uses signed byte values.
+// We compute and return both.
+//
+// copied from 'archive/tar/reader.go'
+func checksum(header []byte) (unsigned int64, signed int64) {
+	for i := 0; i < len(header); i++ {
+		if i == 148 {
+			// The chksum field (header[148:156]) is special: it should be treated as space bytes.
+			unsigned += ' ' * 8
+			signed += ' ' * 8
+			i += 7
+			continue
+		}
+		unsigned += int64(header[i])
+		signed += int64(int8(header[i]))
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+// copied from 'archive/tar/reader.go'
+type slicer []byte
+
+// copied from 'archive/tar/reader.go'
+func (sp *slicer) next(n int) (b []byte) {
+	s := *sp
+	b, *sp = s[0:n], s[n:]
+	return
+}
+
+// readHeader looks for the first header segement from the provided reader
+//
+// partially copied from 'archive/tar/reader.go'
+func readHeader(r io.Reader) ([]byte, error) {
+	// prep our buffer
+	buf := hdrBuff[:]
+	copy(buf, zeroBlock)
+
+	if _, err := io.ReadFull(r, buf); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Two blocks of zero bytes marks the end of the archive.
+	if bytes.Equal(buf, zeroBlock[0:BlockSize]) {
+		if _, err := io.ReadFull(r, buf); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if bytes.Equal(buf, zeroBlock[0:BlockSize]) {
+			return nil, io.EOF
+		}
+		return nil, ErrHeader // zero block and then non-zero block
+	}
+
+	return buf, nil
+}
+
 type (
 	// for a whole tar archive
 	TarInfo struct {
 		Name    string
+		Size    int64
 		Entries []Entry
 
 		// TODO(vbatts) would be nice to satisfy the Reader interface, so that this could be passed directly to tar.Reader
@@ -54,6 +223,7 @@ type (
 	//and payload of it's file Checksummed if the file size is greater than 0
 	Entry struct {
 		Pos      int64
+		Name     string
 		Header   []byte
 		Size     int64
 		Checksum []byte