American Heiress

The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst

By: Jeffrey Toobin

Narrated by: Paul Michael

From New Yorker staff writer and bestselling 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?

Critic reviews

A New York Times Bestseller

"The abduction and subsequent radicalization of Patricia Hearst is one of the most bizarre but illuminating episodes of that tumultuous era of protest...and in American Heiress Jeffrey Toobin retells the story with a full-blown narrative treatment that may astonish readers too young to remember it themselves...Toobin spins this complex chapter of recent history into an absorbing and intelligent page-turner."
—The Washington Post

"[A] clever companion piece to The Run of His Life (1996), his book about the O. J. Simpson case. Mr. Toobin has used the same winning formula of delving deeply into an American crime story that had tremendous notoriety in its day and retelling it with new resonance. Ms. Hearst’s tale is much more bizarre than Mr. Simpson’s... [I]n an age of terrorism, the chronicle of how a sedate heiress named Patricia morphed into a gun-toting, invective-spouting revolutionary calling herself Tania holds a definite fascination."
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“[R]iveting… American Heiress is a page-turner certainly, but Toobin, a gifted writer, infuses it with much more…Even if he ridicules the ideas and condemns the violent deeds of this ragtag group of revolutionary wannabes, they emerge not as cardboard villains but flesh and blood protagonists.”
—The Boston Globe

“Toobin has crafted a book for the expert and the uninitiated alike, a smart page-turner that boasts a cache of never-before-published details...Toobin’s book successfully captures the unrivaled spectacle of the Hearst drama.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Terrifically engrossing…Toobin uses his knowledge of the justice system and his examination of the evidence to pierce the veil of spectacle…As for Patty Hearst herself, Toobin treats her as a person, not a tabloid phantasm.
—New York Times Book Review

“[A] spell-binding retelling … In the end the real test of a writer’s worth is…how well they can tell a story that’s already been told many times before by many different people, including — in this case — by some of the main characters themselves. By that standard Toobin gets an A-plus for American Heiress… Everything about this book feels right: the structure, the style and the tone, which is the New Yorker meets Raymond Chandler. As always with great writing, it comes down to a strong, distinctive narrative voice spiced with the judicious use of juicy details.
—LA Weekly

Best audio book of the year!

This was an extremely interesting, detailed, suspenseful, insightful recounting of an incredible crazy story. Brought back lots of memories of the time. No fiction can match the fascination of this non-fiction saga. The narration was excellent. I really enjoyed it.

Captures the 70s & troubling psychology of Hearst

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.

Now I Understand Why My Parents Were So Mad

This is a very well written and read book (although one must chuckle when Mr. Toobin wryly comments on a participants lust for attention) and a story I didn't fully understand. I now appreciate why my parents, and all their friends, we're so incensed when President Clinton included Patti Hearst in his notorious pardon spree. If you want to know the full and true story of Patti Hearst this read will be well worth your time. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was the condescending tone of Mr. Toobin when describing certain actors (although, to be perfectly honest, with Mr. Francis Lee Bailey he hit it right on the head), what I perceive as his hypocrisy for nettling some for being attention hounds (just once can there be a legal case Mr. Toobin doesn't give his opinion on?) and the writing style of inferring something but not fully telling you the whole detail until later.

But overall it was was well written, well performed and in all honesty, shows the dishonest chameleon that is Patti Hearst.

Great Story

I would rather have heard it narrated by a female since the story was about a female. It was like listening to a reporter or long newscast. Other than that it was great!!

Thanks

Toobin's usual excellence. Every bit about every aspect from every perspective arranged perfectly and never boring.