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Every Secret Thing

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Patricia Campbell Hearst provides her personal account of her activities and relationships beginning with her kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army on February 4, 1974

466 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1981

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About the author

Patricia Campbell Hearst

5 books24 followers
Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw is the granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst. She was kidnapped in February 1974 by urban guerrilla group the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and joined them before being arrested in September 1975 and charged with bank robbery. She was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, but the sentence was later commuted to seven years. Her prison term was commuted by president Jimmy Carter and Hearst was released in 1970. In 2001, she was given a full pardon by president Bill Clinton.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
Profile Image for Liz Wright.
Author 1 book5 followers
May 19, 2008
Patricia Hearst was kidnapped from her home in Berkeley, CA on February 4, 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). She was kept as a “prisoner of war” by the SLA in a closet for fifty-seven days. When she was allowed to exit the closet she was given the options of joining the SLA or death, and she chose to join the movement. Hearst participated in a bank robbery with the SLA where she was identified, and she later participated in communications with the press stating that she had joined the revolution “voluntarily,” rather than under duress and fear of death. The press believed her communications and she was caught, tried and sentenced to prison, but was later released on a presidential commutation. This information is readily available in many sources, but Hearst’s actual thoughts, feelings, and experiences while working with the SLA are contained in this book. She begins by talking about her childhood, which, initially, seems “bourgeois” but later the reader can understand that she was using this information to counter statements by others that she was always a “rebel” and had joined the SLA deliberately and had actually directed her own kidnapping. This book reads like a novel about some poor soul, but at times the reader stops and remembers that this was actually her life.
Profile Image for Nina Foster.
254 reviews36 followers
August 24, 2018
This is the book to read if you are interested in what really happened to Patty Hearst. It is the "victim's" story, written by the victim herself. It is not the romanticized lie of an unauthorized biography where the author interviews her delusional, inhumane, criminal kidnappers, who say she could have escaped many times but warned her she would be shot dead if she tried.
In it Patty Hearst gives the details of everything she was going through physically and mentally during her time with the psychotic nutjobs who called themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army. She details what her thoughts were as she was being forced to do the things she did, such as robbing banks, and publicly calling her parents "The pig Hearsts". I remember when this all happened and it was always an intriguing mystery, but when you read her story it becomes very clear. I felt pulled into the horror of it all, the inhumane treatment that another type of person might not have survived.
There was only one copy of this book in circulation through the library network across my state and It never was available to me for some reason, but Amazon has many copies used and new and I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Donnell.
587 reviews9 followers
June 7, 2016


Have wanted to read this book for years but was, for some reason, not called to actually start reading.

Patty's story shadowed my late high school, early college years. When she is kidnapped in February 1974 I learned about it in my math class, as a high school junior. April 3, 1974 was my 17th birthday and also the birthday of Patty's childhood friend whose father was president of the Hibernia Bank, the bank that the SLA robs later that month.

I learned of Patty's arrest at dinner in the dining hall my freshman year at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California. Then, a few months later during a "go to work with my dad" day, I am at the Federal building in San Francisco with some friends, and day three of Patty's trial will begin in a few hours. A line has formed--and I get in it! Did not see much during the trial. Mainly F.Lee Bailey questioning a witness from his chair and the back of Patty's head.

Realizing that the issue--did Patty deserve jail time?--has been out there, as a tiny irritant, for all these years because there didn't seem to be a clear answer.

From the book, its pretty clear why Patty would choose to stay with the SLA when she is first offered the choice to stay or leave, as I discuss below. The continuing to stay becomes less clear as time progresses, however, especially after six of the SLA members are killed. While reading, I would just feel perplexed, especially after Bill Harris hits her in the eye--more than once, she is forced to jog miles when she hates it, and then she's involved in bank robberies and bombings where there are real risks that people will be hurt or killed. ( I also talk about this more later.)

Marveling at how the terrorists of the late 1960's and early 1970's (the Manson Family, the SLA) were largely young, white middle/upper middle class judeo-christian women. These women had fathers with professions like doctor, high school teacher, minister. In high school, members did things like be cheerleaders and track stars.

What would Donald Trump make of this? Do we put a wall around beauty pageants?

Could it be that one's race or religion doesn't mean that one is automatically a criminal or a terrorist? Could it be that if we keep out certain groups, we will still have terrorists to deal with from whatever groups we deign to allow?

[Sort of related, after the SLA a big SF Area drama was the shooting of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk--by a white, middle class, Christian, former public safety office and SF Supervisor--so how do we protect our selves from this type of fanatic?]

Also marveling at how the SLA members, including Patty, appear driven by this passionate need to benefit the people, meaning the poor people, but do almost nothing to help such people other than asking for free food for them early on. The only things they actually do are rob banks, steal cars, shop lift and, later, set off bombs. I understand the thinking (I think): their objective was to start a war with the Capitalist system in order to bring it down. And in order to have this war they needed money (so had to rob). The fact is though, when you pull back and look at the reality of their lives, the beautiful vision of a world where the poor have risen up is only in their heads and is so extreme that it can only be in their heads, making them not helpers of the poor but only criminals and killers.

Interesting, though, how others also willingly accepted the SLA fantasy. After the shoot out--the fearsome SLA consists of only a bickering couple and a kidnapped heiress. And yet it held the world in fear and was able to snare substantive recruits and assistance.

Why didn't Patty leave? When she first agrees to join the SLA when offered her freedom, one can almost understand. It is eight against one and the reality is that it is so much safer to kill kidnap victims than to set them free. The few victims who have stayed alive--think Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard--had joined with their captors.

But then as time progresses, especially after the shoot out, Patty has many opportunities to walk away. She does have a fear that the FBI or police will shoot her on sight because she had, after all, robbed a bank, stolen cars, shot at the Mels Sporting Good store and issued tape after tape where she praises the SLA and affirms her membership with them. Still, she could have safely walked up to any officer in a disguise and then explained who she was and that she wanted out.

My theory: Eckhart Tolle talks about the ego/self being separate from the true being, yet how important the ego/self/the story can be to people. So important they can freak out if that self is lost--e.g. the person who loses fame, money and/or a job, if those things formed that person's identity.

It seems that in Patty's case, her weeks in the closet and the sensory deprivation, worked to weaken her previous self/story which made her ripe to take on a new identity. Once she had this new identity, to have left that identity could have made her feel unmoored, questioning her very existence. When she is parted from the Harrises for the week she is driven across country, then reunited with Emily--a woman she continually states she dislikes--she is happy because now she again feels safe. Also, when arrested and asked her occupation she says: urban guerrilla.

The second part of this is that I don't think the people of the 1970's were ready to understand (the way they weren't ready to understand gays, transgender people and many issues of race) the idea that one could be tortured into replacing one identity with another, or how difficult it could be to voluntarily discard one's new (now only) identity. Which reminds us why it is a good thing the past is the past.

Reading more of the book, we are reminded that the Guyana People's Temple suicides happened while Patty was in jail. This may have educated society on the power of brainwashing. As John Wayne, of all people, points out to the public: if 800 people can be persuaded to kill themselves and their children by a lone fanatic then why can't we accept that a young girl could be brainwashed after being held and abused by fanatics for months?

So, bottom line: If someone has been kidnapped and treated as Patty was treated--whatever she might do after that, it would not be appropriate to treat her as one would an average person operating with free will. Therefore, in my view, from the moment Patty was found she should have been treated as a kidnap victim, psychologically evaluated to see if she had really turned into an SLA member and if not, been provided with counseling to help her heal and asked to assist in the prosecution of her captors.

One tiny positive that came from her ordeal--When she is out on bail her father hires 12--count'em 12--bodyguards. Four per each of three eight hour shifts per day. Most were off duty police officers. Patty writes that they would step in on occasion as dates for her and her sisters. In fact, from among them she finds her husband.

The mom's story is particularly touching though we see little of it. Patty mentions that while her dad had a friend and business partner with whom he could share his fears and concerns, her mom had no one but her dad. And then we learn that she may not even had the dad because, after 40 years of marriage, weathering the kidnapping, SLA membership and trial of one of their daughters--the parents wanted to divorce.

Interesting to "see" again the San Francisco of the 1970's--the SF I grew up with-- an SF that had nary a tech worker within its borders. Also interesting to think of Steve Jobs as a punky kid at a nearby high school, as Patty is growing up near Menlo Park.

So, what if the SLA had developed in the modern age? One senses it would have benefited in two primary ways:
1. With the Internet it could spread its message around the world and draw in recruits a la ISIS.
2. From the book you feel that, back in the 1970's, the "Establishment" was a much stronger, much more insurmountable presence. This was not a world where the Republican Party would be floundering around while picking a presidential nominee. Such an Establishment no longer exists, so would no longer be as protective a back stop to those who want to terrorize at the grass roots level.

Profile Image for Janice.
92 reviews
March 15, 2018
After watching CNN's recent series about the Patty Hearst kidnapping (based on Jeffrey Toobin's book) in which Bill Harris (Teko) and others spoke extensively, I was left with the impression that many (including
Toobin) doubted Patty's insistence that she was brainwashed. I wanted to read her account, which was this book published in 1982 (she did not participate in the CNN series). I did wonder, as others have, why she did not escape when she had opportunities to do so. However, based on the amount of information she was fed by SLA members and mistreatment by them while locked in a closet for months, I could understand her depression and feeling of futility when she was allowed out and "trained" by them. We will never know, but her life before and after the kidnapping has been exemplary. I enjoyed reading her explanation of the kidnapping and all that followed.
Profile Image for Tom Schulte.
3,422 reviews76 followers
May 28, 2024
A really great bio. I like that the action starts with her kidnapping before page 40 and the lengthy legal wrangling is summed up in final couple of chapters. This gives a lot of space for the broad scope of the cross country months of hiding underground, robbing banks, planting bombs, and being brainwashed. It is easy to see why her brainwashing defense was hard to swallow and it is an amazing case of behavior-affecting psychological trauma.
Profile Image for Pilouetta.
53 reviews5 followers
March 19, 2008
i couldn't put this one down! it's not poetically written, but the story is fascinating. i began to feel paranoid, hearing noises thinking the SLA was out to get me, fearing pizza delivery drivers, woke up thinking a strange woman was banging on my bedroom window. it is as if hearst's story really does the job of making the reader feel as berated as she did, with the inundation of SLA propaganda, constantly feeling afraid of being killed, agoraphobic, i felt transported and hallucinated. causes one to question the fine line between utter idealism and insanity. and that is not just the SLA, but also the FBI and prosecutor's office who convicted hearst on robbery charges, even though she had been kidnapped at 19, held in a closet over a month, denied proper nutrition and exercise, and was sensory deprived. difficult to describe who to despise more - the government's persecution of women/hearst or the misogyny of the SLA. did i say, compelling?
Profile Image for Erin.
459 reviews89 followers
October 22, 2010
I think this true story is what brought more attention to what is termed the Stockholm syndrome. Patty Hearst was kidnapped, starved and held in a closet for weeks. Her kidnappers told her conspiracy stories through the closed door until she started to believe them. When they had convinced her to join them, they let her out of the closet and she was 'free'. She helped them rob a bank and do things she would have never otherwise done. At the time, the public didn't understand why she didn't try to escape, but they didn't understand just how they had brainwashed her, and how effective it can be.

I would recommend this book. I read it when I was 19, and 23 years later I still remember it better than a lot of books I have read.

Profile Image for Terry Cornell.
526 reviews63 followers
April 25, 2017
Patty Hearst's story of her early life, being abducted and held in captivity by the SLA, and her court battles after the capture of SLA members. Really I'd give this book a two and a half star rating. I remember following her abduction and the activities of the SLA in the newspapers, and as a teenager finding it fascinating. Heart's narrative seems for the most part dry and detached, which I totally understand considering her circumstances. I found the most interesting part, were her experiences in court. I always thought F. Lee Bailey to be a better showboat than an attorney, and her experiences with him seem to agree. Ironically due to plea bargaining her sentence was longer than the Harrises who were some of her kidnappers!
Profile Image for Laura.
519 reviews7 followers
January 7, 2022
What a crazy, horrific story! I had heard of Patty Hearst and knew she’d been kidnapped, but that was about it. The SLA…what can I say? They were so delusional, it’s scary that they actually believed what they talked about. I hadn’t heard of them at all until this book. No wonder. They didn’t do or accomplish much in the end.
2 reviews
July 9, 2019
I have to admit that I’m biased against believing Patricia Hearst’s version of events. I saw
the CNN documentary last year in a political science class and then even read Jeffrey Toobin’s book, and it was clear completely that from the beginning, Toobin did not believe a word that came out of her mouth. I found his evidence compelling, and it definitely swayed my opinion.
Patty was kept in a closet for more than 60 days, during which time she was forced to record the groups "manifestos" that were distributed to the media. She was subjected to physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of her captors. At the end of her captivity, she was asked if she wanted to be released or if she wanted to join the group. She opted to join, took up arms and was photographed during a subsequent bank robbery. Hence, later being charged with her involvement with the robbery and other crimes that followed. The SLA (minus Patty and 2 other members) was killed by authorities in Los Angeles. Patty, once captured by the FBI, was convicted of charges and served a nominal amount of time in jail. Her conviction was commuted by President Carter and vacated by President Clinton (one of his last days in office acts which he was so widely criticized for).
What is known about the SLA isn't pretty and it's the only inside perspective of this radical moment in our history not written by an actual insider. Patty doesn't apologize for her involvement - she states that she didn't feel she had a real choice, that the SLA or FBI would have killed her had she chosen to leave - but she clearly shows contrition.
But that all being said, I do believe Patricia was a victim. I don’t fall in with the camp
that thinks she planned her kidnapping, and I don’t deny she suffered sensory deprivation and coercion while in that closet for nearly two months. I also don’t believe she became an all-out revolutionary, truly working to overthrow the “fascist insects” and “pigs” of America. I think she did and said what she had to so as to survive—and then, I think she liked the chaos that came into her ordered life. It seems that in Patty's case, her weeks in the closet and the sensory deprivation, worked to weaken her previous self/story which made her ripe to take on a new identity. Once she had this new identity, to have left that identity could have made her feel unmoored, questioning her existence.
So, bottom line, If someone has been kidnapped and treated as Patty was treated whatever she might do after that, it would not be appropriate to treat her as one would an average person operating with free will. Therefore, I believe, from the moment Patty was found she should have been treated as a kidnap victim, psychologically evaluated to see if she had really turned into an SLA member and if not, been provided with counseling to help her heal and asked to assist in the prosecution of her captors.
One tiny positive that came from her ordeal. When she is out on bail, her father hires 12 bodyguards. Four per each of the three eight hour shifts per day. Most were off duty police officers. Patty writes that they would step in on occasion as dates for her and her sisters. In fact, from among them, she finds her husband. She was a daughter of privilege and although now she is a film actress and relatively unblemished in the eye of the public, imagine being 19 years old and naive and suddenly you're locked in a closet for months by madmen. Or your daughter. Definitely, thought-provoking although perhaps with a bit of an agenda. I've done some additional research and find a lot of unanswered questions about the CIA's involvement with the

formation of the SLA, the positioning of Donald DeFreeze (the leader of the SLA, and onetime FBI informant) so, he could just walk away from prison. The fact that the FBI had obtained a list showing Patricia's name as a person to be kidnapped by the SLA at least two weeks prior and they did nothing to warn her or her parents. Had they at least surveilled her, they could have caught three members of the SLA, and prevented her kidnapping, why didn't they??
Profile Image for Laura.
121 reviews1 follower
December 8, 2007
I decided to read this book for 3 reasons:
1. I found a copy at a garage sale for $.50.
2. Patty Hearst was released from jail on 2/1/1979, which also happens to be the day I was born, which I think is cool.
3. I only knew vague facts about this incident and was constantly missing casual popculture references about Patty and SLA, not to mention more than a few Jeopardy! questions about what was in the news in the 1970s.

I ended up hating this book for way more than three reasons, but I will elaborate on only a few key points:
1. Patty Hearst is not a very good writer and her experiences as a "prisoner of war" with the SLA are actually fairly boring. They did a lot of hiding out, relocating to new safehouses, and doing calisthenics. This is an inordinately long book for an adventure that spends most of its time indoors hiding from the FBI.
2. Generally I believe Patty Hearst's claims about being forced into participation with a radical left-wing revolutionary army. However, this book is an obvious attempt to quiet her critics who thought she staged her own kidnapping or was somehow complicit in the violent actions of the SLA, which is really annyoing and makes the whole book feel pretty insincere. She distances herself from her hippie days at Berkeley. She makes fun of the hippies, saying, "When a young socialist or evengelist forced a leaflet into my hand in Sproul Plaza, I took special delight in dropping the message into one of the dozens of nearby trash cans without even glancing at it. One stopped to listen to the blatherings of such people strictly for amusement." But who went to UC Berkeley in 1972 and wasn't a hippie? She goes so far as denying any kind of deep thought in her youth, describing her fiance's discussions about philosophy and academics as, "far beyond my comprehension and so boring that I would often slip away to the kitchen to bake a cake." I don't buy it, Patty.
3. Finally, this book's description of the violent, misguided and totally clueless radical SLA army was sadly symbolic (at least for me) of our country's loss of 60s idealism, peace, harmless free love and kick ass rock and roll. In came the 70s with its move toward radical violence as a form of protest, synthetic fabrics, STDs and disco. At least, this is my very generalized vision of the 70s and Patty's Hearts autobiography only served as a testament to it. Very sad.

I'm moving on to Richard Ford's "The Sportswriter" now. It was written in the 90s when people finally just started struggling to care about anything. I'm much more comfortable with that.
Profile Image for Lisa Gallagher.
Author 9 books31 followers
July 30, 2015
Obviously this book (and the story behind it) has sparked a lot of curiosity and I guess reading it you have to remember Patty had much to be gained (at the time) by currying good favor. In case you don't remember (or are too young): in 1974 heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped by a radical group in San Francisco. This group had already murdered a prominent Black politician and purported itself to be for civil and equal rights, by any means necessary. Patty was kept in a closet for more than 60 days, during which time she was forced to record the groups "manifestos" which were distributed to the media. She was subjected to physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of her captors. At the end of her captivity she was asked if she wanted to be released or if she wanted to join the group. She opted to join, took up arms and was photographed during a subsequent bank robbery. Hence being charged with involvement with the robbery and other crimes that followed. The SLA (minus Patty and 2 other members) were killed by authorities in Los Angeles. Patty, once captured by the FBI, was convicted of charges and served a nominal amount of time in jail. Her conviction was commuted by President Carter and vacated by President Clinton (one of his last-day-in-office acts which he was so widely criticized for). I suspect many people would read this book and immediately assume Patty isn't being factual, that she was just trying to get off (the book was written after her commutation, but while still a felon). But her kidnapping is a fact and what is known about the SLA isn't pretty and it's the only inside perspective of this radical moment in our history not written by an actual insider. Patty doesn't apologize for her involvement - she states that she didn't feel she had a real choice, that the SLA or FBI would have killed her had she chosen to leave - but she clearly shows contrition. She was a daughter of privilege and although now she is a film actress and relatively unblemished in the eye of the public, imagine being 19 years old and naive and suddenly you're locked in a closet for 2 months by madmen. Or your daughter. Definitely thought-provoking although perhaps with a bit of an agenda.
Profile Image for Hank Stuever.
Author 4 books2,031 followers
July 13, 2013
Well, it's her story to tell, right? Here are three things I have to say about this book:

1. I bought it and read it in October 1988 for two big reasons: The Paul Schrader movie "Patty Hearst" (starring Natasha Richardson) had just come out and I was transfixed; so transfixed, in fact, that I wrote a research paper for my Women's Studies course (yes) about the political motivations of women who belonged to the SLA and were involved in Patty's abduction. (Terrible paper. The professor gave me a B out of the kindness of her heart, no doubt.)

2. Going back further. In 1973-74-75, I was 5-6-7 years old. I remember the copy of Newsweek with her picture on it (her arrest, I think). I couldn't get enough of the story -- the closet, the ransom communiques, the fleeing, the rebellion. What a story. Later there was a TV movie about it, mostly from the lawman's perspective; Dennis Weaver played the lead FBI agent. I was so happy when President Carter pardoned her.

3. Now zipping forward in time, to 2008, maybe? One of those years I had to cover the Oscars. Patty and her friend John Waters were at Elton John's Oscar party. I talked to them. "In college, I did a term paper on you (Patty) AND a term paper on you (John)." She didn't care. But he's always so nice. He said: "Neither one of us went to college." (!!!) What a night! Prince walked right by us about 30 seconds later.
Profile Image for Katie.
291 reviews26 followers
October 8, 2018
I have to admit that I’m biased against believing Patricia Hearst’s version of events. I saw the CNN documentary last year and then read Jeffrey Toobin’s book, and it was clear from start to finish that Toobin did not believe a word that came out of her mouth. I found his evidence compelling and it definitely swayed my opinion.

But that all being said, I do believe Patricia was a victim. I don’t fall in with the camp that thinks she planned her own kidnapping, and I don’t deny she suffered sensory deprivation and coercion while in that closet for nearly two months. I also don’t believe she became an all-out revolutionary, truly working to overthrow the “fascist insects” and “pigs” of America. I think she did and said what she had to in order to survive—and then I think she liked the chaos that came into her ordered life.

Regardless, I found this book surprisingly engrossing. She repeated a few talking points that made me roll my eyes and glossed over some of the less savory parts of the story (nothing much to say about the start of the relationship with Bernard Shaw, huh?), but overall Patricia (and, I assume, her ghostwriter) crafted a fascinating narrative that kept me hanging on until the end, even though history already told me how it all played out.
Profile Image for Sandy.
23 reviews6 followers
Read
January 27, 2008
avoid having an iconic name and tons of class privilege , because even being kidnapped at gunpoint, locked in a closet so tiny you can 't straighten your legs for 57 days, while being systematically raped and starved -- EVEN THEN the relentless drive of mainstream news to remake you into dangerous counterculture radical succeeds in getting you a federal prison sentence. did my heart good to see this survivor pop up in john waters films
Profile Image for Satyabrata Mishra.
387 reviews26 followers
May 11, 2013
A true crime story is titillating. But a story recounted by the one who had lived it through? That's one hell of a book. The tale of Patty Hearst is one of the most told tales but often clouded by other people's judgement. Here Patty opens up every piece of her sad tale, her dive into cultism and a slight touch of stockholm syndrome. Though it's not a literature masterpiece, the book has a very personal tone that lends a charm to it.
Profile Image for Duane Maddy.
45 reviews3 followers
March 6, 2018
started off strong, began to drag, with an abundance of detail and information as it progressed. I had to sit it down and come back to it. Within the last hundred pages, the story became interesting again, as her time in the courtroom, prison and home were brought into the narrative. Her lawyers proved that money couldn't buy you freedom, then her friends proved that hard work and dedication could make a difference. An interesting read.
Profile Image for Rachel B DeVault.
24 reviews4 followers
April 9, 2008
I guess the only reason I gave this book only two stars is that shortly after I finished it, I was wondering why I read it at all. It's just such a sad, dark story, and it goes on FOREVER....I wish that I had found a different book about the story, a book that wasn't so long and horribly depressing. Don't know if there is such a thing for this subject!
Profile Image for Kathryn.
22 reviews
July 26, 2014
This is the book that sparked my love of biographies and true crime stories. It's a truly fascinating account of Hearst's ordeal and time held in captivity by the SLA. I still can't believe she served prison time. I think (or at least hope) our legal system has a better understanding of brainwashing and the Stockholm Syndrome today than it did in the 1970s.
Profile Image for Marcia Furman.
13 reviews1 follower
September 13, 2018
I read this book directly after reading “My Search For Patty Hearst” by Steven Weed who was her fiancé at the time of kidnapping. These two combined were very interesting to compare and contrast! I would advice to read Steven Weed’s book first as it’s gets the outsider’s story and is a little more dry. Fascinating!
Profile Image for Candice.
546 reviews
March 25, 2019
After reading American Heiress, I really expected to loathe Patty’s own account of her SLA encounter. I supposed it would be full of lies. While I still don’t “like” Patty, I kind of believe that she believes what comes out of both sides of her mouth. She seems to have a helpless victim personality and it serves her well. She plays a good damsel in distress.
Profile Image for Bryan.
32 reviews6 followers
February 9, 2008
I decided to read books by people with my birth sign, Patty Hearst and I are both Pisces. Once I started reading this brutally honest and truly amazing bio I read it in 3 days !! Delve back in time to the 70s and all the chaos and sadness of this story !!! One of my favorite books ever
Profile Image for Alex.
16 reviews1 follower
February 18, 2015
My copy had several typos in it. It started off strong and finished strong though. I read this a few weeks after the Charlie Hebdo killings and couldn't help drawing comparisons. Crazy how damaging a few idiots with a cause can be.
202 reviews
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October 19, 2009
Got in to this story recently and wanted to hear what Patty herself said about the experience. Written in a chronological style and in her own very young voice.
Profile Image for Deb Sharp.
434 reviews15 followers
February 17, 2013
I read this book for the first time in 1986, and I really enjoyed it! So I read it again in 1997! I may just have to read it agin soon!
Profile Image for Gary Turner.
542 reviews6 followers
June 27, 2013
If you were alive during this time, or if you just like the story of Patricia Campbell Hearst, please read.
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