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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
Doubleday, please, just make this 400 pages. This is pretty densely packed (both words per page and with information), but Toobin has a savage last few lines that are expertly crafted.
[a:Jeffrey Toobin|163130|Jeffrey Toobin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1277421216p2/163130.jpg] certainly does his homework. This is my second read from him, and I found American Heiress to be compelling reading. I was quite young when the Patty Hearst kidnapping occurred, so my recollection of the situation was next to nothing. It's a pretty fascinating story of a wealthy heiress being kidnapped and ultimately acting in concert with her kidnappers on a number of criminal endeavors. The open question that Toobin addresses in this book is "Was Patty Hearst coerced into committing crimes, or did she do them of her own free will?" He makes an excellent case for one side . . .
The book has a lot of detail and really isn't the kind of gripping read that say [b:Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders|105992|Helter Skelter The True Story of the Manson Murders|Vincent Bugliosi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347694754s/105992.jpg|1077715] is. The characters don't really come to life in the book; it's more like reading an excellent piece of investigative journalism that you might find in a major newspaper. The trial portion is particularly detailed and hence on the slow side. But all in all, I found it to be very interesting in that it seeks to unravel the truth while also providing insights on the time period and these counter culture revolutionary groups. If you have any interest in the case at all, this book is certainly worthwhile reading.
The book has a lot of detail and really isn't the kind of gripping read that say [b:Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders|105992|Helter Skelter The True Story of the Manson Murders|Vincent Bugliosi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347694754s/105992.jpg|1077715] is. The characters don't really come to life in the book; it's more like reading an excellent piece of investigative journalism that you might find in a major newspaper. The trial portion is particularly detailed and hence on the slow side. But all in all, I found it to be very interesting in that it seeks to unravel the truth while also providing insights on the time period and these counter culture revolutionary groups. If you have any interest in the case at all, this book is certainly worthwhile reading.
3.5. This was at times compelling, and others not-so-much and a bit too detailed. But overall, it was an interesting read into a huge incident that happened in the 1970's, an incident of which I knew just about nothing. I really enjoyed the narration of this and even went so far as to try and find what other books he narrated. I'd recommend the audio, definitely!
This book gave me more insight into the 1970s than any book I've ever read. It feels especially timely now given our current turbulent times. I had heard of Patty Hearst and the SLA, and I knew there were issues involving a bank robbery and Stockholm Syndrome, but I would imagine this book would be enlightening even to those who lived through it all because of Toobin's journalistic excellence. I gave it 4 stars because it seemed to drag a bit in the middle, but that could be because I was start/stopping the audiobook. The audiobook version was fine, but I did speed him up to 1.25x and maybe giggled a little when he very accurately pronounced the Swedish names.
American Heiress did, however, leave me wanting more insight into one very important question: Is Jeffrey Toobin obsessed with F. Lee Bailey? Does he (fairly) call him a mercenary because he uncomfortably recognizes the legal journalistic equivalent in himself? Would he consider that a compliment or an insult?
American Heiress did, however, leave me wanting more insight into one very important question: Is Jeffrey Toobin obsessed with F. Lee Bailey? Does he (fairly) call him a mercenary because he uncomfortably recognizes the legal journalistic equivalent in himself? Would he consider that a compliment or an insult?
This was really interesting for me to read because I know so little about Patty Hurst and her kidnapping. I think the author did a great job of telling the story and helping the reader understand the cultural context of everything that was happening (which was important to me because obviously I wasn't alive when this happened).
dark
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I'm terribly sad that Books on the Nightstand has completed it's journey. Without it, I would not have read as many great books as I have. They are keeping their episodes up for 2 years so go out there and check out their recommendations.
American Heiress is another great recommendation from BOTNS. A non-fiction book about the saga of Patty (Patricia) Hearst, it held my attention. The entire Hearst deal happened before I was born but it's something that pretty much everyone knows about. An heiress to the Hearst fortune, Patricia was kidnapped by the stupidly named Symbionese Liberation Army in February 1974. Toobin's account shows a group of "revolutionaries" who really just seemed bored and wanting to do something to make a statement. Their leader, Donald DeFreeze, was a felon who escaped (and the prison actually didn't even bother looking for him - what does that tell you?) who fancies himself a George Jackson, which he wasn't. He fancied himself the leader of the SLA and African-Americans, except he was the only black member of the SLA. Their first real act was murdering Marcus Foster, an African American educator who was actually doing some good, but the SLA got all the facts wrong and a man who was trying to help was now dead.
Next up, the SLA thought a kidnapping was a good idea. Enter Patricia Hearst. This book was written without any input from Hearst but her own memoir, Every Secret Thing, was the starting point for Toobin's research. Hearst was kidnapped, her fiance, Steve Weed ran away from the fray and a neighbor was injured. At first, Hearst was kept in a closet, blindfolded. That didn't last terribly long as the chattier members of the SLA took to being her friends and leaving the door open so they could talk. As we move on, Hearst is given the option of being left somewhere where her family could come get her or joining SLA. She chose to join.
Her participation in bank robberies, bombings, etc. is pretty well known. She had ample opportunity to flee her captors, often being left alone in vehicles while others shopped. Bill Harris, a member of the SLA, often said he wanted her to leave as she was too conspicuous and was causing them problems. Eventually, they are caught, arrested and made to stand trial.
The Hearst family brought in F. Lee Bailey to defend Patricia and he chose to go the route of brainwashing. Long story short, Hearst was convicted, served time, had President Jimmy Carter sign a commutation of her remaining sentence and demanded a full pardon from President Bill Clinton.
My overall feeling of Hearst was "poor little rich girl". She was bored with her life when she was kidnapped, decided being an urban guerrilla would be fun, went to jail, decided being a rich Hearst again would be better, then went on to convince herself that she never did anything wrong.
The SLA did not seem to have enough brain power to keep themselves together, let alone brainwash someone. They barely survived, barely caused a reaction, barely did anything but pretend to be revolutionaries.
Definitely recommend for a good read.
American Heiress is another great recommendation from BOTNS. A non-fiction book about the saga of Patty (Patricia) Hearst, it held my attention. The entire Hearst deal happened before I was born but it's something that pretty much everyone knows about. An heiress to the Hearst fortune, Patricia was kidnapped by the stupidly named Symbionese Liberation Army in February 1974. Toobin's account shows a group of "revolutionaries" who really just seemed bored and wanting to do something to make a statement. Their leader, Donald DeFreeze, was a felon who escaped (and the prison actually didn't even bother looking for him - what does that tell you?) who fancies himself a George Jackson, which he wasn't. He fancied himself the leader of the SLA and African-Americans, except he was the only black member of the SLA. Their first real act was murdering Marcus Foster, an African American educator who was actually doing some good, but the SLA got all the facts wrong and a man who was trying to help was now dead.
Next up, the SLA thought a kidnapping was a good idea. Enter Patricia Hearst. This book was written without any input from Hearst but her own memoir, Every Secret Thing, was the starting point for Toobin's research. Hearst was kidnapped, her fiance, Steve Weed ran away from the fray and a neighbor was injured. At first, Hearst was kept in a closet, blindfolded. That didn't last terribly long as the chattier members of the SLA took to being her friends and leaving the door open so they could talk. As we move on, Hearst is given the option of being left somewhere where her family could come get her or joining SLA. She chose to join.
Her participation in bank robberies, bombings, etc. is pretty well known. She had ample opportunity to flee her captors, often being left alone in vehicles while others shopped. Bill Harris, a member of the SLA, often said he wanted her to leave as she was too conspicuous and was causing them problems. Eventually, they are caught, arrested and made to stand trial.
The Hearst family brought in F. Lee Bailey to defend Patricia and he chose to go the route of brainwashing. Long story short, Hearst was convicted, served time, had President Jimmy Carter sign a commutation of her remaining sentence and demanded a full pardon from President Bill Clinton.
My overall feeling of Hearst was "poor little rich girl". She was bored with her life when she was kidnapped, decided being an urban guerrilla would be fun, went to jail, decided being a rich Hearst again would be better, then went on to convince herself that she never did anything wrong.
The SLA did not seem to have enough brain power to keep themselves together, let alone brainwash someone. They barely survived, barely caused a reaction, barely did anything but pretend to be revolutionaries.
Definitely recommend for a good read.
Toobin does an excellent job of capturing all aspects of the Patty Hearst story.
I grew up in San Francisco and was in high school when Patty Hearst was kidnapped and tried. The nuns made us pray for her every morning during homeroom. I recognized many of the locations, people, and activities of that crazy time. The most bizarre connection was my encounter with Patty's mother. My class was on a field trip to the Hall of Justice during the trial. My friends and I were in the restroom complaining loudly that Patty Hearst was likely to be set free because of her wealthy connections. We were teenagers and loud and boisterous with our opinions. Out of the stall comes Mrs. Hearst. In a very dignified manner, without any eye contact, she washed her hands and walked out. Yikes!
Although Hearst was convicted her sentence was commuted by President Carter and she was later pardoned by President Clinton. The first person in history to have both - talk about the privilege of wealth!
I grew up in San Francisco and was in high school when Patty Hearst was kidnapped and tried. The nuns made us pray for her every morning during homeroom. I recognized many of the locations, people, and activities of that crazy time. The most bizarre connection was my encounter with Patty's mother. My class was on a field trip to the Hall of Justice during the trial. My friends and I were in the restroom complaining loudly that Patty Hearst was likely to be set free because of her wealthy connections. We were teenagers and loud and boisterous with our opinions. Out of the stall comes Mrs. Hearst. In a very dignified manner, without any eye contact, she washed her hands and walked out. Yikes!
Although Hearst was convicted her sentence was commuted by President Carter and she was later pardoned by President Clinton. The first person in history to have both - talk about the privilege of wealth!
Very Interesting. Well written. I wound up disliking Patty, the final straw was when she stole the married police man and he divorced his wife (and 2 children) to marry her