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329 reviews for:
American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
Jeffrey Toobin
3.83 AVERAGE
329 reviews for:
American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
Jeffrey Toobin
3.83 AVERAGE
A marginal bunch of wayward strays who didn't realized they'd missed the '60s-revolution-that-wasn't manage to incept and induct a dissatisfied member of the moneyed class. A hazy frisson of gunpowder and rhetoric ensues, at least for a very short time. In the end, the rich kid who thought she wanted a ticket out retreats, with a vengeance, deep into the native-born shelter of class and prestige from which she was snatched (and gets a Presidential pardon to boot!) while all the other less-fortunates - the sex worker, the lesbian poet, the abused black addict, etc. - end up dead or in jail. Honestly a pretty fucking sad story, but like the man said: Ain't that America!
3.5 stars really. I enjoyed the retelling of the Patricia Hearst kid napping. I thought Toobin did a great job setting the tone of the mid 70's and of tying all the players together. He also showed what a person can get a way with if they have the right name and the right connections. Patricia Hearst was, of her own free will, the SLA.
This is not vintage Jeffrey Toobin. His book about the U.S. Supreme Court was superb. This book is OK, though much of the information already was known. The only new info involves letters that Ms. Hearst wrote while in prison to her lover, who also was in prison. They help to make Toobin's case that Hearst was, basically, an opportunist. When she was an heiress, she was OK with it. When she was kidnapped, she became a revolutionary. When she was captured, she swiveled back to being an heiress. It shows Ms. Hearst as the mother of all flip-floppers, someone with no conviction about who she was or who she should be. So the book has redeeming value and is worthy of reading. But it also contains way too many redundancies and rehashes of material. It needed much stronger editing to earn 5 stars. I gave it 4 stars, but it's closer to 3.5, IMHO.
I really enjoyed reading this. Toobin did incredible research, and it was an interesting read. I want to read more of his books.
Holy crap is it just me or are all terrorist cut from the same pathetic loser cloth? It's shocking that some things never changed. Oh and I listened to this on audio. Fantastic reader. Highly recommend.
Fascinating read for anyone Who grew up in the 1970s and only had peripheral knowledge of the Patty Hearst case. Very detailed, objective account. Did Patricia get off easy for her crimes? In my opinion, her pardon was justified. Her family's fame and fortune were the reason for her kidnapping as an impressionable young girl of 19. She never would have committed those crimes, if the kidnapping had not occurred. So it only makes sense that her family's fame and fortune helped her to become absolved of her crimes.
History as farcical tragedy. It certainly helps to be Rich & White in America...
As a child of the 1980's, I was not familiar with the story at all other than Patty Hearst = Stockholm Syndrome. This book is a fantastic read; although non-fiction it reads like a story you cannot believe is true. The book is well researched and well written. I am a big fan of Jeffrey Toobins other books and I highly recommend this one as well.
I thought I knew a lot about this issue, but I learned a lot from this book. Very thoroughly researched, and easy to read.
I never knew the actual story of Patricia Hearst's kidnapping, so this was an educational and well researched book. It's a crazy story and I'm so glad I read this.