American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

3.83 AVERAGE

rachelschloneger's review against another edition

3.0
informative medium-paced
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madscrain's review against another edition

5.0
challenging funny informative medium-paced

jaredwill_'s review against another edition

4.0
It's easy to read this and see Patricia Hearst as a heartless opportunist who did crimes when it was exciting and then turned on the people she called friends the moment it became beneficial to her and then used her immense wealth and celebrity to avoid any consequences.
All of that is accurate but this also feels like a story about a woman who tried really hard to please others without any idea of who she actually was.
Patty Hearst's story feels like someone trying to be what everyone around her expects her. You might be able to feel sorry for her if she wasn't rich, hadn't caused the death of an innocent woman, and wasn't the only member of the SLA to avoid any real consequences.

toddburns's review against another edition

4.0
informative medium-paced
relo_mom's profile picture

relo_mom's review against another edition

I used the “Uncle Dave” rule of reading 100 pages before giving up on a book. At page 102, I knew it was not for me. Author kept loosing me. Couldn’t keep track of what he was addressing. Had to keep re-reading paragraphs 3-4 times to make sense of it. 

sarah_e_t's review against another edition

2.0
I appreciated the depth of this book. This book describes the life of Patty Hearst as the subtitle states. I thought it was well done, but I did not really care about the subject of this book so I did not enjoy it as much as I enjoy others.

brc29's review against another edition

4.25
dark informative slow-paced
spacebee's profile picture

spacebee's review against another edition

3.0
informative reflective medium-paced

nb61's review against another edition

3.5
informative reflective medium-paced
Lots of new info on Patty Hearst. Seems well-researched. 

pollycharlie's review against another edition

5.0
The story telling is excellent. A good book to showcase the Bay Area history.