I was really surprised how well the book read. I expected it to be much drier and perhaps whiny. I barely remember the news stories growing up, but I do remember the Free Patty Hearst T-shirts and the ads in Creem and other pulp rock magazines. Her trial though in her eyes, reminded a bit of Meursault being tried for not crying at his mother's funeral and Patty being tried for what she did to the upper and middle class image than for the bank robbery... of course it is her story ( )

Patty Hearst recounts the tale of her infamous kidnapping and “brainwashing” by the Symbionese Liberation Army in the early 1970s, explaining in a factual, unemotional tone how she was converted from a rich, naive heiress into a misguided revolutionary. Hearst is not a great writer, and I was often forced to skim large portions of the narrative that I found simply boring, but the bumbling efforts of the homegrown terrorist group are fascinating, and the book does give an interesting inside glimpse into one of the more bizarre events in American history. ( )