
American Heiress
The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $22.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Paul Michael
-
By:
-
Jeffrey Toobin
From New Yorker staff writer and best-selling author of The Nine and The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson, 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 circuslike 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?
©2016 Jeffrey Toobin (P)2016 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
People who viewed this also viewed...











Best audio book of the year!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What did you like best about this story?
About the same age as Patty Hearst, I too came of age in the late 60s and early 70s. This book evoked the turbulence of the times and how righteous causes sometimes attracted and bent fringe characters. The book portrays a fascinating family history as well and gives insight into the psychology of Patty, a rather average person ensnared in one of the century's most explosive crime stories.Captures the 70s & troubling psychology of Hearst
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
But overall it was was well written, well performed and in all honesty, shows the dishonest chameleon that is Patti Hearst.
Now I Understand Why My Parents Were So Mad
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great Story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thanks
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The subtitle says it all
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Insightful, Essential
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you could sum up American Heiress in three words, what would they be?
Even if you never heard of Patty Hearst it is still a great read!!!What did you like best about this story?
How the family tried to get her out of serious trouble!Which scene was your favorite?
The capture!Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes!Excellent Listen
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of my favorites
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Engaging Story About Horrible People
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.