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Beginning:
The doorbell rang at 9:17 on the evening of February 4, 1974. From their perch on the sofa in the living room, Patricia Hearst and Steven Weed looked at each other and shrugged. No one was expected. But it was Berkley, so who knew?
Hosted by Freda’s Voice
Page 56
Joe Remiro emerged from the half-light and lifted his hands to be frisked. “It’s in my right pants pocket,” he said. The officer reached in and found a Walther PP .380 automatic–one of the guns used to kill Marcus Foster.
My Thoughts
I love true crime and the sensationalist nature of this book certainly appeals to me. Despite knowing the gist of Patty Hearst’s story both of the snippets spike my interest and have me wanting to know more.
American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin
Pages: 368
Published by Doubleday
Publication Date August 2nd 2016
Goodreads
From "New Yorker" staff writer and bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin, the definitive account of the kidnapping and trial that defined an insane era in American history.
On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, a sophomore in college and heiress to the Hearst family fortune, was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self-styled revolutionaries calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. The already sensational story took the first of many incredible twists on April 3, when the group released a tape of Patty saying she had joined the SLA and had adopted the nom de guerre Tania.
The weird turns of the tale are truly astonishing the Hearst family trying to secure Patty s release by feeding all the people of Oakland and San Francisco for free; the bank security cameras capturing Tania wielding a machine gun during a robbery; a cast of characters including everyone from Bill Walton to the Black Panthers to Ronald Reagan to F. Lee Bailey; the largest police shoot-out in American history; the first breaking news event to be broadcast live on television stations across the country; Patty s year on the lam, running from authorities; and her circus-like trial, filled with theatrical courtroom confrontations and a dramatic last-minute reversal, after which the term Stockholm syndrome entered the lexicon.
The saga of Patty Hearst highlighted a decade in which America seemed to be suffering a collective nervous breakdown. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of previously secret documents, "American Heiress" thrillingly recounts the craziness of the times (there were an average of 1,500 terrorist bombings a year in the early 1970s). Toobin portrays the lunacy of the half-baked radicals of the SLA and the toxic mix of sex, politics, and violence that swept up Patty Hearst and re-creates her melodramatic trial. "American Heiress "examines the life of a young woman who suffered an unimaginable trauma and then made the stunning decision to join her captors crusade.
Or did she?"
Intriguing.
I LOVED this book, which filled in many of the gaps we didn’t see in the news when it was happening. I will never forget the day that we first heard about the kidnapping…and all the time later, how we were stunned at what appeared to be her turnaround in attitude.
Thanks for sharing. Here’s mine: “THE CRUELEST MONTH”
I remember when it happened and I love true crime too. I’ll have to put this on my reading list.
Sounds fascinating, especially to those of us who remember the real story of Patti Hearst. Happy weekend!
I wrote a paper about her for a college class. Very intriguing case. I’m still not sure about her guilt.
This one is high up on my want to read list. I know a little bit about the case and I’d really love to know more. Hope you’re enjoying it!