Radical Son

A Generational Odyssey

By: David Horowitz

Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz

David Horowitz, a onetime leftist radical turned right-wing conservative, has written an autobiography about his political transformation. His memoir charts a trek from one political commitment to nearly its opposite while his sense of self and of his righteousness stays constant.

The son of proudly Communist parents, he became a major figure in the 1960s New Left. He is by no means the only intellectual and activist to have moved from the Left to the Right in recent decades, but few have done so while maintaining such a high profile and outspoken style. His book therefore becomes not only an important and fascinating memoir of the 1960s but also a devastating analysis of the legacy of that time.

©1997 David Horowitz (P)2001 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A document of the first importance for understanding the legacy of '60s radicalism." (Booklist)
"Because [Horowitz] has witnessed some elemental political battles, and because he tells his often painful story with candor and passion, his lengthy book remains absorbing." (Publishers Weekly)
"Mr. Horowitz has written a courageous book, full of self-revelation with a willingness to expose his own frailties in the most sensitive areas of sex and family." (The New York Times Book Review)

Get it

As a millenial educated in the humanities, this book really put my liberal ideas into perspective. We all need to seriously evaluate what kind of ideas we should never allow to become popular, and marxist left ideas are alive and well today in 2018. Read this if you’ve ever questioned your liberal peers or thought that your fellow lefty millenials have totally lost it. This really reveals the ugly true face of all of these enticing ideologies, and anyone with a liberal arts college education has been inevitably indoctrinated. Read this if you want answers to what feels very wrong in your gut about “liberals” and “the left.”

Five Stars is Too Few

This is an outstanding audiobook. It covers the growth and ultimate change of a self-described "red diaper baby" through his search for truth which was not to be found in the false causes to which he had given so much, including the Black Panther Party. Present-day liers about the author ignore all these facts and much more. And the story is far from one sided: the author reveals and acknowledges his own flaws and failures, including highly personal information about his own role in the failure of his marriages. Finally, the narrator is absolutely perfect for this work. His tone and delivery make a perfect companion to the content. One of the best books on Audbile.com.

Horowitz steps forward with the truth

Radical Son is a courageous and truthful self-examination. The confession part is fascinating, but the reader also gets a broad history of the radical movement and, within it, one radical's harrowing journey from belief to apostasy.

It IS entertaining, thoroughly. We get nasty inside dirt on leaders & criminals he got close to: Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Abbie Hoffman and others. He explains how his former friend, Tom Hayden, had direct ties to Viet Cong leaders, how a Soviet spy once awkwardly bribed him, and the heartbreaking story of his friend who was tortured & murdered by her employer, the Black Panthers, after he had recommended her for the job.

After growing up watching the hippie revolution told on TV and in Time Magazine, and eventually seeing the 60s radicals advance to positions of highest powers on Earth, I now get to learn the unguarded truth from someone who was inside the movement.

I am grateful to David Horowitz for telling us his story (he has suffered for betraying the Left).

THE NARRATION
I love the narration by Jonathon Marosz(?). Expressive and sturdy but never "too much" -- so you don't tire of him. I listened through twice.

(Jeff Riggenbach, who narrates the other version of this title, I find intolerable.)

honesty

Thoroughly enjoyed this book . The incredible naked honesty of self delusion and discovery is engaging. now to look up Destructive Generation...

A good comprehensive telling...

David Horowitz was on the forefront of the "New Left" movement that began in Berkeley and was popularized by its opposition to the Vietnam War. Even going one step beyond, his upbringing in the Marxist ideology would place him at a level of radicalism that few Leftists could claim. His involvement with the Black Panthers... the list goes on. The entire history being told in minute detail might have a slight tendency to drag (especially considering Mr. Horowitz's penchant for self-inspection every step of the way), but the necessity of hearing the unabridged version becomes clear once the details of his ideological transformation come to light. The manner in which the story is told makes it obvious that Mr. Horowitz's "change of heart" was not surprising at all, but simply a matter of time. It could even be said to have been necessary, considering the events leading up to his "heresy". Overall, an enjoyable tale, and a serious argument in favor of the general conservative mindset. Liberals beware: your loss was definitely our gain in this case.

An explanation of what we again experience today

This is an engrossing read. Because I lived through the events described and remember with clarity the outrageous behavior of the far left, coupled with the timidity or acquiescence of the press, this book has not only filled in all of the blanks from that period but also sheds light on the same outrageous tactics being repeated today. If you want to really learn something and at the same time get really mad, read this book.

The Best I've

David Horowitz has written a brilliant auto-biography, from his roots as a son of relatively high-level Communist parents, through to his conversion to Conservatism. He writes with openesss and humility.
From "Ramparts" to his close relationship with The Black Panthers. You will learn alot about Tom Hayden, Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Abbie Hoffman and many others.
I could not stop listening. The "Roots" of the New Left become painfully apparent. And Horowitz's struggle with his own belief's makes for a riveting listen. The Narration and Sound are very good.
This is a very important and extremely captivating work. I will be listening to THIS one multiple times!
Thank You Audible.........Please MORE Horowitz!

An inside view of the Progressive Movement

The author reveals how socialism is doomed to failure by comparing the grand ideals that originally enticed him with the totalitarian regimes that followed revolution. He explores many topics; from the war in South East Asia to the Black Panther Party.

Insightful and tragic

David Horowitz tell an insightful and tragic story of communist subversion, destruction, and redemptive escape from the inherent death of the Marxist lie.

Remarkable story, Wonderful narrator.

This riveting tale offers a mostly honest and moving second look at both the old left and the new left. I was a student at Berkeley in the 60's, and now I am approaching my own 60's. Horowitz captures our acute longing to perfect society and our abject failure to do so. On the negative side, Horowitz' personal attacks on some of his adversaries raises questions of balance, but overall a fair overview. The narrator-Marosz-did a spectacular job. One of the best I've heard. I immediately purchased another book based on his narration.