Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomber and His Family

by David Kaczynski, James Knoll IV (Afterword)

In August 1995 David Kaczynski's wife, Linda, asked him a difficult question: "Do you think your brother Ted is the Unabomber?" He couldn't be, David thought. But as the couple pored over the Unabomber's seventy-eight page manifesto, David couldn't rule out the possibility. It slowly became clear to them that Ted was likely responsible for mailing the seventeen bombs that killed three people, and injured many more. Wanting to prevent further violence, David made the agonizing decision to turn his brother in to the FBI.

Every Last Tie is David's highly personal, and powerful, memoir of his family, as well as a meditation on the possibilities for reconciliation and maintaining family bonds. Seen through David's eyes, Ted was a brilliant, yet troubled, young mathematician, and a loving older brother. Their parents were supportive, and emphasized to their sons the importance of education and empathy. But as Ted grew older he became more and more withdrawn, his behavior became increasingly erratic, and he often sent angry letters to his family from his isolated cabin in rural Montana.

During Ted's trial David worked hard to save Ted from the death penalty, and since then he has been a leading activist in the anti–death penalty movement. The book concludes with an afterword by psychiatry professor, and forensic psychiatrist, James L. Knoll IV, who discusses the current challenges facing the mental health system in the United States, as well as the link between mental illness and violence.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Crime, Biography Memoir, Psychology

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2016

Reviews

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I chose to read Every Last Tie -- I don't have any particular fascination or interest in the Unibomber -- but I'm really glad I took a chance on this book. The author -- David Kaczynski -- is Ted Kaczynski's brother. Not only is he the Unibomber's brother, but at the urging of his wife he's the one who identified Ted as a possible suspect for the slew of mail bombs that killed 3 people and injured many more from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s. Don't read this book if you're looking for juicy facts about the Unabomber or his family. Do read this book if you're interested in a very human portrait of the Kaczynski family and the impact of Ted's crimes on his brother and parents. David doesn't apologize for his brother, but he gives dimension to the world he came from. Each of four chapters is focused on different members of the family: Ted, their mother, their father and David's wife. David depicts his brother as always having been odd, isolated and in later life very angry. David's depiction of his parents, and especially his mother, is heartbreaking and loving. And the final section is the most powerful, dealing with his wife Linda, and the agony David and Linda went through together to figure out if Ted was the Unibomber and what to do about it. This is a short book. It is well written. It feels honest. And it feels like a necessary expression from someone who had to make and live with an incredibly difficult decision -- the only right decision, but still a difficult one with devastating consequences for his family. My only complaint about the book is that there's an unnecessary afterword written by a psychiatrist who dwells on mental illness and mass killings -- it's not necessary and it really doesn't fit with David's narrative. Other than that, this was a worthwhile read, even for someone who wasn't specially interested in the topic to start with. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

[David M · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was 20 years old I developed an infatuation on a devilishly handsome older boy who used to come into town riding a freight train. This boy said he was an anarchist opposed to industrial civilization. He said his own philosophy was best expressed in the unabomber manifesto. However, when pressed he admitted that he hadn't actually read the thing. He didn't read much, this boy. On the other hand, I was a reader, and so out of frustration at my never-to-be consummated crush, I printed out the manifesto and read it from start to finish.

Not a very impressive piece of work, I'm afraid. It's long and turgid and the only reason it was ever published is that the author was threatening to kill people. Still I would say most definitely it's not the work of a crazy person. At his trial Ted Kaczynski adamantly refused to plead insanity, and with good reason. He wasn't insane. The ideas expressed in the manifesto are very much on a spectrum with mainstream disenchantment with our civilization.

More than the unabomber himself, for a while I was interested in the possibility that someone could be obsessed with him. I read a number of books on Kaczynski. A few authors came close to sympathizing, almost painting him as a kind of a heroic dissident and folk hero. I was never at all convinced. Aside from the banality of the manifesto, his whole campaign of sending bombs to people is obviously grotesque.

Anyway, this is all just to say I was very interested to hear that Kaczynski's brother had published a memoir. Now having read it, I'd say this is probably the best book ever published on the subject. David K evidently shared much of his brother's discontent with civilization. He went through a long period of living as a hermit in the Texas desert. However, he never seems to have dreamed of hurting anyone and would eventually reintegrate in society. In these pages he comes off as a remarkably kind and gentle man. Famously he was the one to turn his brother in, based on a suspicion that the style of the manifesto matched personal letters he had from Ted. In these pages he quite nobly refrains from making excuses, barely even raising the specter of mental illness. At the same time he shows the complexity of his relationship with his brother, the older boy he used to look up to and love. This is painful reading.

[Mauoijenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful book on the discovery of who the Unabomber is and how it came to light on who his identity was. This was written very well and kept me reading until the last page.

[Kelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is definitely not a book I would normally pick up, but on a whim I thought it sounded interesting as I enjoy memoirs and psychology. As I started this book, I thought I would really enjoy it but about a third of the way through it lost my interest. I felt it became much more about the author than Ted Kaczynski, and sometimes gave more detail than I cared to know about philosophical ideas of the author or odd dreams or experiences he had.
In my opinion, the first chapter says all there is to learn about the unabomber from this book; the rest of the book is more a mix of experiences of the family members, and not necessarily connected to Ted Kaczynski.
I would have liked to hear more about perspectives of other people besides the brother, and more detail about the trial and the aftermath of David exposing him. The book is really about the author's reflections and might be more appropriately titled: The Story of the Unabomber's Brother and His Family.
The Afterword was similar- it started seemingly with insights about the Unabomber, and then was an extensive report on psychiatry and Buddhism. Not what I expected!

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I felt that the author didn't give us the full story. He seemed to leave out bits and pieces, and occasionally pausing to give a judgemental filibuster on those whose beliefs and opinions differ from his own. He's almost arrogant...no, wait...he is. He didn't tell us what happened during and after Ted's trial, or how he and his family recovered from his brother's notoriety. I understand that being in this unique situation can be very trying and emotionally difficult, but I feel like he didn't share everything that needed to be shared. His memoir only skimmed the surface.

If you would like a memoir with a fuller range of emotion and explanation for the memoirist's beliefs and view, I would recommend A Mother's Reckoning by Susan Klebold, the mother of the Columbine shooter. Just don't bother with Mr. Kaczynski's book.

[J Earl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomber and His Family by David Kaczynski is an interesting read for the most part but could have done without the last quarter of the book which was only loosely related at best.

As with any biographical work written by a family member a reader has to read with an eye toward hidden or hinted at situations. David does an admirable job of trying to be as open and honest as possible but he is still human and there are as many questions raised about the family life of the Unabomber as there were answers. Even with that caveat there is still a lot to be learned from this slender volume. Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that something like this can happen in any family in any neighborhood. As such, we would do well to try hard to understand and care for our family and friends. Though it can't prevent something of this sort it might help someone like Ted Kaczinski to never reach the point where violence seems to be the answer.

I think this would appeal to those who like to read about infamous people and speculate on how and why they became who they did. There isn't really a lot beyond that to recommend the book. It was an easy read and worked best as a form of therapeutic release for David which makes publishing and reading it well worth it.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Paul Franco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Supposedly the story of how the Unabomber’s brother turned him in, but despite it being a thin book there wasn’t that much of that. Most is family background, how Ted became alienated from the family as his (probable) mental illness took hold, and so on.
Some moments were of particular interest to me. Ted Kaczynski went to Harvard on a scholarship at sixteen; that’s as obvious a warning sign as you’re gonna get. I also found it funny that the play Antigone is mentioned, since I’d never heard of it until a few months ago, when I saw it.
But the most telling note is: “So strong was his opposition (to pleading insanity) that he preferred the death penalty over allowing his defense attorneys to present mental health evidence.”
The last quarter or so of this already small book is afterward, which I looked forward to but found just as disappointing, if not more. It goes through mental illness and jails, as well as mass shootings. While necessary in general, it has nothing to do with the topic. It’s so rambling most people would likely give up before it gets to the reason for it.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Kaczynski's memoir is a compelling read. The book seems to argue that mental illness was the only reason that his brother, Ted, became the person we know as the Unabomber. Kaczynski's description of early family life shows some dysfunction but he makes a huge leap with an implication that experiments that Ted participated in at Harvard damaged him severely and laid the groundwork for Ted's spiral into mental illness. I think that since Kaczynski chose to write a memoir, he might have served himself and his family better by a much more detailed account of the life of family and the events of Ted Kaczynski's evolution into a criminal. Finally, the family involvement in the subsequent experience with the criminal justice system would have balanced out the book’s narrative.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very humane and heartfelt book. I could feel David Kaczynski's anguish over his brother's illness and crimes. Ted is still something of a cipher, but how could he not be? Just the same, this book goes a long toward making one recognize that he was a profoundly ill and disturbed person, not evil, but all too human.

[Kara Sophia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is barely about Ted at all. It focuses more on David and his story, which, other than the part where he turns his brother in, is mostly dull and terribly typical. Sorry, but I do not want to read about how he met his wife or about his Buddhist thought. He is only "famous" because his brother is infamous. This book was very disappointing.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was profoundly intersting for two reasons. Firstly, the Unabomber is something of a guilty pleasure of mine - I find him to be the most fascinating serial killer because his killing were born out of a philosophical view, essentially combining two interests of mine, deviant psychology and philosophy, into a single historical figure. Secondly, this book, and what David Kaczynski had to go through is a profound emotion experience and also rich with philosophical themes.

Viewing the situation through the lens of David, one can imagine how hard it would be psychologically to go through the process of first, coming to believe your brother, who was essentially a third parent due to the age difference, is guilty of such horrible atrocities, and secondly, deciding to turn him in. It gives rise to a conflict between our personal duties - the duties we have to our family, to those we love - and our impersonal duties - duties to justice. Obviously turning his brother in was the just thing for David to do, but it also constitutes a betrayal of his brother in the sense that to love is to trust beyond the evidence, to privilege over others. Such a position is surely beyond uncomfortable and despite David not being a victim of the Unabomber directly, the indirect emotional and psychological trauma is likely no less intense than that suffered by the loved ones of the victims.

The Unabomber is a profoundly interesting individual and this book provides new perspective to the literature on him which, to this point, consists mostly of an analysis of his views on technology and the simple history of his killings. The Unabomber was not a person arisen from ashes who one day decided to begin killing in pursuit of a goal; he was a man, raised by a family, loved by his family, whose actions, beyond their effect on the actual victims, takes an unbelievable toll of those whom gave him their unrequited love. How could it be possible for someone you looked up to, who you loved so strongly, to do such horrible things? Could you have stopped it? These are just two of the likely hundreds of questions swirling around the head of David Kazscinsky, and I for one, have no shortage of empathy towards his situation.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Every Last Tie” is an extraordinary baring of the soul by a man who had to do the unthinkable, then turned his personal tragedy into campaigns against the death penalty and for improved mental health services. David Kazcynski, brother of the Unabomber, is a humble, gentle, intelligent, and generous man, and reading his “story of the Unabomber and his family” will both break your heart and inspire your spirit. His tale reminds us to have compassion for others and ourselves and not to judge too swiftly or harshly. It is a gem.

[Shawna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book at a $1 book sale. I thought it looked pretty interesting. I like to read true crime from time to time. The beginning of the book started out interesting enough. I enjoyed the photos included of the Kaczynski family. It even made me a little sad to see photos of this once little boy who in the pictures looked like any other boy his age. Then the story veered to sort of an autobiography of his brother, the author of this book. I was more interested in learning more about Ted so it kind of lost me half way through.

[Bakunin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to be said about the Unabomber and his family... There are so many facts about this family that are strange and quirky. The father committed suicide by shooting himself when he found out he had cancer (but without telling the rest of the family), Davids long infatuation with his eventual wife is a strange story by itself as well as his decision to live alone in the desert for 8 years.
Will write a longer review later but first I have to take some time to digest this memoir.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect to read this book in one sitting, but that's what happened. Definitely interesting, and more moving than I expected it to be. The afterword by a forensic psychiatrist was a valuable added perspective. This is a very readable book and I recommend it—and not just because I work for the publisher.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it but didn't. The book felt too unstructured and what I learned from it could have been written in a few pages. Even though it's a short book it's still too long.

[Bill FromPA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ted could experience sharp, poignant sympathy for people he regarded as vulnerable – particularly children or those living on the margins of society. He could experience and occasionally expressed deep compassion for those who were powerless and suffering. However, he could never imagine anyone in a relatively powerful position as suffering – or at least not undeservedly.

This was odd – in many ways the opposite of a true crime book. Very little is said about Ted Kaczynski’s crimes – only that he planted bombs or sent them through the mail and that some caused fatalities. A few victims are mentioned – only one is named – and never enumerated. The bomber’s motives are vaguely referred to as “anti-technology” without any attempt to give any details about the contents of his manifesto.

David Kaczynski gives a lot of information about his mother and father, less about older brother Ted, who is presumably the reason readers will be reading this book. He gives his impressions of Ted at home while growing up, though with an age difference of seven and a half years and contrasting introvert vs. extrovert personalities there are limits to their level of intimacy. Once Ted leaves home for Harvard, graduate school, teaching jobs, and finally, an isolated cabin in Montana, we get almost no detailed information about his life. A brief mention of sadistic psychological experiments at Harvard for which Ted was a volunteer victim is tantalizing but never followed up.

Kaczynski is almost equally unrevealing about himself; he gives us information about his childhood activities and his courtship of his wife, though what happened with her first marriage is never revealed. For part of the time Ted was living in isolation in Montana, David lived alone, evidently for years, in what seems to be little more than a hole in the ground in West Texas. He describes it as a sort of communing with self and the Universe, but little other detail is provided. He does talk in some detail about his agonizing over admitting his brother was likely the infamous Unabomber and then going to the FBI with his suspicions and the consequences, the most satisfying aspect of the book.

The Kaczynski brothers were apparently raised outside of any religious tradition, something which I imagine would have added to their social oddity in the 1950s Midwest, though this is never touched upon as a source of alienation. David at some point became a Buddhist, perhaps under the influence of his wife Linda, though, like much else about his life, this is never made explicit. I can’t say how much his faith influenced his understanding of the events of his life or what from among them he chose to tell, nor whether my own unfamiliarity with this belief system contributed to my sense of the book’s oddness.

The afterword by forensic psychiatrist James L. Knoll IV is another oddity. It barely mentions the Unabomber and is instead a kind of expansive op-ed on the overlap of the criminal justice and mental health systems in the US, having little relevance to Kaczynski’s narrative. It introduced me to Penrose’s Law, which is an interesting formulation of the nexus between criminality and mental illness. Knoll praises David Kaczynski, who he knows professionally, as “a consummate example of walking the path of the open and fearless heart.”

[Gold Dust · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book by the unabomber’s brother, talking about some family memories, how he got the idea ted could be the unabomber, and the aftermath of turning him in. I didnt like that events were not told in chronological order. The book talks a surprising amount about Buddhism.

Spoilers:
Ted was sensitive and compassionate with animals and vulnerable people like children (7, 21, 40, 43, 72).
Ted had to stay at the hospital for days when he was nine months old. (6) His mom thought this was why he later wasnt social and secretly feared abandonment.
Ted didn’t like being hugged by his mom (66).
Ted was a participant in mkultra (10-11).
Ted used to love his brother (26), but David’s defending of their parents to him made him want to never speak to them again.
From Dave’s description of Ted, it sounds like he was an INT in MBTI (58). Not enough info to determine whether he was a P or J.
His parents were liberal (87).
They were against spanking, but spanked him once when he was 10 and didn’t come home from school or tell his parents where he was (65, 67). Dave seemed to think Ted did it out of amusement. The spanking was effective; “the next day Teddy’s manner was transformed to one of uncharacteristic meekness and mildness. He seemed chastened. Possibly my brother—‘abandoned’ to a hospital as an infant—received his spanking as a form of reassurance that he was loved. Or perhaps it comforted him to have his sense of order and equilibrium restored through justice—due administration of a deserved punishment” (67).
Other than that incident, Ted was a good kid who followed the rules (66).

The book’s afterword was written by james knoll, a psychiatrist who thinks ted had schizoid personality disorder. “Mental health professionals are sometimes taught that such individuals are cold, aloof, and uninterested in relationships. This is a misunderstanding. It is not people that they avoid, but emotional intimacy, which they experience as intrusive, controlling, and at times even persecutory” (107). The schizoid individual “is trapped in an excruciating dilemma of sensitivity and hunger for meaningful intimacy versus a fear of humiliation and exploitation by other’s emotions. Social engagement is desperately needed, yet this desire is threatening and panic-inducing. Such individuals inevitably choose the only ‘reasonable’ route available—isolation and inwardness” (108). “This produces crippling loneliness and enhanced reliance on one’s imagination—both of which must be paradoxically denigrated as signs of weakness, since they threaten one’s illusion of absolute self-sufficiency and total logic” (108).

I’m not convinced that what Knoll said of Ted is true. I don’t think he feared humiliation by others. (And isn’t avoiding people out of fear the avoidant personality disorder, not schizoid?) That seems to be more true of that Sidis genius. From what I know of Ted, he didn’t have a need for human company, and certainly not from anyone illogical or dumb. He was happy alone and wouldn’t have bombed anyone if his nature area hadn’t been invaded. I’m not convinced Ted saw imagination as a sign of weakness either. I don’t recall any evidence presented for that point of view. What he made clear in disliking was stupidity and reliance on technology.

Knoll wrote, “If only someone would notice your fear and pain, lift you out of captivity and let you back into the wild” (109), as if Ted only bombed people out of loneliness and seeking attention. Clearly not true. He didn’t want attention, otherwise he wouldn’t have bombed people anonymously. Mass shooters tend to want the attention Knoll wrote about (116-117); they do their deeds out in the open, write manifestos tied to their real name, etc. Ted did not want to be known. He wanted to get his message out. The message was what mattered. He truly felt technology was leading humanity in a terrible direction, and that it had to be stopped. That was why he bombed. It had nothing to do with attention or loneliness. But I suppose psychiatrists like Knoll have to try to make his violent actions about his supposed psychological troubles in order to divert attention from the technology they participate in and don’t want to give up. They don’t want to consider the merit in Ted’s ideas. They just want to slap a label on him and dismiss what he had to say so that they don’t have to take responsibility for their own actions or inactions. Knoll points out that the Internet has amplified people desiring celebrity status by any means necessary (117). It’s interesting that Knoll indirectly was saying the Internet is a problem, and that is exactly the kind of thing Ted was fighting against when he bombed.

Knoll suggested that Ted viewed human intimacy as oversocialization (126). I don’t think Ted was against intimacy. He just didn’t like technology or illogical things/people. He admired the hunting and gathering cultures where there was plenty of socialization, but the community was small and tight-knit. Technology leads to larger populations which leads to all the problems large cities face.

Interesting facts unrelated to Ted:
“According to Penrose’s Law (circa 1939), there will be a relatively stable number of persons confined in prisons and mental hospitals in any industrialized society. If the population of one is reduced, the other will increase to compensate” (111).
“In the absence of substance abuse, there is no significant relationship at all between psychiatric disorders and firearm violence” (112).
“Despite enhanced media coverage, mass shootings by people with serious mental illness remain exceedingly rare events and represent a fraction of a percent of all yearly gun-related homicides. This should be contrasted to firearm deaths by suicide, which account for the majority of yearly gun-related deaths” (115).
“While crime has dropped overall since the 1990s due to a variety of factors, crimes related to narcissism (or a wounded ego) are directly relevant to mass shootings. . . . Twenge and Campbell note that ‘narcissism and social rejection were two risk factors that worked together to cause aggressive behavior,’ and these have certainly been described in the histories of mass shooters. . . . The study of individual cases of mass shootings that have occurred since the ‘90s suggest that perpetrators often felt socially rejected, and perceived society as continually denouncing them as unnecessary, ineffectual, and pathetic” (116). “They plan a surprise attack to prove their hidden ‘value.’ They become martyrs of the excommunicated—too egotistic to surrender to and benefit from what they cannot accept about themselves” (116-117). Many mass murderers “intend to die after carrying out the massacre” (121-122), so I doubt arming innocent people will stop a person who is determined to wants to carry out a mass shooting. But it would prevent them from killing more people than they would if no one present were able to shoot them.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Kaczynski is the brother of Ted Kaczynski, the man we know as the Unabomber. In this honest and powerful memoir, which is as much an autobiography as a biographical account of his much-loved brother, we come to know the background to what happened to Ted plus David’s own development after the truth about what his brother had become was uncovered. The book doesn’t pretend to be a dispassionate and in-depth account, but it’s a moving and compelling personal story that I found very engaging and insightful. The afterword unfortunately adds little to the narrative and could have been dispensed with – David’s account is where the interest of the book lies. Overall, however, it’s a fascinating and insightful exploration of one man’s mental disintegration and puts a human aspect onto a terrible story.

[Mila Mikhail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book because David gives us insight into his and Ted’s private lives, and it allowed the reader to see who Ted was as a person through the eyes of someone who loved him instead of merely from a true crime point of view like all of these other books about the FBI investigation and whatnot.

The book fell short for me on many occasions, however. I felt as though a big chunk of the story was missing because although David briefly mentions working hard to save Ted’s life during the trial, nothing is actually written about what that might’ve been or how it affected David and Linda. There are many such instances, hence the reader merely gets a superficial tidbit of a much more complex story.

Nonetheless this is a brave book and I admire David not only for his activism and unwavering love for his brother, but also for his courage in the face of such tragedy.

[Madison Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book brought up a lot of emotions. It’s not exactly a “true crime book”, but a very sensitive story about brotherly love and pain. I’m glad I read this.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. It really fit well with the genres I read the most; memoirs and sociology. The first four chapters are written by David, brother of the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. The final chapter is written by a Psychiatrist that, through his mentor's work, became acquainted with David and the Unabomber case. I felt that this second perspective was interesting and a great way to conclude the book.

The bulk of the book written by David, feels like a honest and compelling need to understand how one's cherished big brother goes on to become a serial killer. It is heartbreaking to journey with him as he sorts through the childhood memories trying to find the answer, all the while recalling seemingly normal, fond memories. After agonizing rumination, David and his wife face the dilemma of contacting authorities with their suspicions of Ted or allowing the Unabomber to possibly kill again. It is choice between brotherly love and a civil/moral responsibility; a painful struggle to accept the truth and then, in the aftermath, try and understand it.

I'm glad to have happened upon this book and read it. I think that it would be of most interest to those with family members suffering from mental illness or persons with an interest in the subject. My only critique would be the nonlinear fashion of the story telling. For example: a story about camping might be followed by another story about camping, ten years prior. So the stories flow logically subject-wise but not in the chronological fashion that we are probably more accustomed to - and this can be slightly disorientating in trying to discern which story happened first or in what part of time a particular story is being told.

[Warren-Newport Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the course of 17 years (1978-1995), a domestic terrorist code-named "The Unabomber" targeted corporate executives and academics by sending them homemade letter-bombs that would detonate upon opening. Twenty-three people were injured, and three were killed. The FBI's investigation was going nowhere until a social worker named David Kaczynski provided a tip that the Unabomber could be his estranged older brother Ted, a former college mathematics professor who had retreated from the world to live in a remote Montana cabin. Ted had been estranged from his family for years prior to his unmasking as the Unabomber, and when he found out that David had tipped off the FBI, he swore that he would never forgive his brother's betrayal.

As of this writing, Ted is serving eight life sentences without the possibility of parole at the Supermax prison in Colorado. Their parents are deceased, and the two brothers remain estranged to this day.

Every Last Tie is a family story. David Kaczynski explains that his parents were loving, caring people who should not be blamed for their older son's misanthropy. Ted's decision to sever "every last tie" with his family broke his parents' hearts. David also writes that it really was his wife, Linda, who figured out that Ted could be the Unabomber. As devout Buddhists, David and Linda felt that they had to tip off the FBI, not only to stop the violence, but also to prevent Ted from accumulating even more bad karma than he already had.

This short book does not provide the complete story of the Unabomber and will make sense only to readers who are already familiar with the life and crimes of Ted Kaczynski. Still, for those interested in the impact of mental illness on families, this book is well worth reading. (Amy B.)

[Andrew Galbreath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine realizing your older brother, who you’ve always looked up to, is the most wanted terrorist in America. Ted Kaczynski, better known to history as the Unabomber, was famously responsible for mailing 16 bombs that killed three people and injured 23 others. What’s less known is that it his brother David was the one made the agonizing decision to turn Ted in to the F.B.I. A touching emotional roller coaster, “Every Last Tie” is David Kaczynski’s extraordinarily moving memoir that recalls his childhood, his family, and his relationship with his brother over the years leading up to his bombing campaign.

It’s profound and well-written throughout. My only criticism is that, simply put, it wasn’t long enough; Kaczynski’s memoirs take up a mere 103 out of 131 pages in my edition. The afterword is written by renowned forensic psychiatrist James L. Knoll, and while it contains some deep insights in how society treats the mentally ill, it takes up a full quarter of the book itself. I personally would’ve liked to have more space dedicated to David’s memories of Ted, and more stories about how the kid David once knew who showed kindness to trapped rabbits evolved into the anarcho-primitivist former mathematics professor and recluse willing to commit horrific acts to get his manifesto published.

You will finish this book with new insight into human nature, mental illness, what truly drives people to violence, and the nature of what we often call “evil.” I hope Kaczynski one day publishes more memoirs, and if we’re really lucky, maybe a book of poetry. I very much enjoyed his poem “Return” at the beginning of the book.

[Chris Witkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Kaczynski relays a very sad, but amazingly brave story of the decisions he and his wife were forced to make once they suspected the identity of the man who had been terrorizing the country for years was, in fact, David's brother. This is not a tell-all story, but instead a thoughtful study of the Kaczynski family, composed of two loving parents and two very different, highly intelligent sons. From an early age Ted was a loner and his parents often worried about him, but as was common in the 40s and 50s, they did not seek help, believing that he would eventually grow out of his anti-social phase.

Kaczyniski's goals in writing this book seem to be to show the world that his parents were honest, hardworking, good people who valued education, empathy and justice. His descriptions of the agonizing decision he had to make when deciding to give up his brother are wrought with pain, but the most difficult task of all was to tell his mother just what her loner son had really been up to all those years. Heart wrenching does not begin to describe the scene.

Ever since I first heard that the Unabomber was caught due to actions of his own brother I have wondered what I would do in a similar situation. Would I have the courage to do the right thing? I so admire David and his wife for their bravery. They are heroes in my book.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book because I'd seen David Kaczynski speak a few times on TV about his brother and the difficulty he had turning him in to the FBI. But, the book was a little disappointing. I did really like that he includes lots of family pictures. Similarly to Sue Klebold's book, A Mother's Reckoning, it helps humanize Ted Kaczynski and you can see how his family knew there were problems, but never imagined he would turn into the Unibomber. The book is VERY short - only 4 chapters and each chapter focuses on a specific relationship - how David came around to suspecting his brother might be the Unibomber, a chapter on his mother, one on his father, and then one on his relationship with his wife Linda, who first suspected Ted as the Unibomber. The tone of the book is very light and almost disconnected. I guess I wished for a more thorough and linear book about David and Ted's lives. It's not a bad book, just not what I was expecting. The Afterward is written by James L. Knoll who is a forensic psychologist. That section is so full of psychologist terminology and philosophy that it was a little hard to follow. It was more of a philosophical look at the situation than a more detailed memoir, which was what I was hoping for. It was OK, but not great.

[Brynna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book walks an incredible line: it is both breathtakingly honest and enormously kind. I was too young and too oblivious to the news to remember the Unabomber scare, which possibly served me well in enjoying this book. I have, however, experienced personal and familial brushes with mental illness and would recommend this book and particularly its afterword unreservedly to anyone engaged in that momentous struggle.
The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that it is slightly disappointing and disorienting structurally. Each chapter is really a separate vignette discussing a different family member and their relationships with the author and his brother. Slightly different chapter titles would remedy this easily.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Kaczynski, younger brother of Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, gives a brief but heartfelt account of growing up it with a brother he idealized and loved but one who manifested signs of mental illness from an early age. If you remember this case, you already know that David turned in his brother to the FBI but this book details how that came to be and how agonizing the decision was for the author to make. This is not really a book about the Unabomber's crimes but more a book about a family's efforts to deal with a seriously ill family member. If that topic is of interest to you, I would recommend this book.

[Rye · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd sit by the campfire all alone, sometimes joined by my memories of people, but fundamentally apart, never in actual company, turning absence into a positive, holding in balance the vastness of the universe beyond with the vastness of the universe within.

[Jamie Gehring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest and Compelling!

The author’s writing style is lyrical and refined. But what makes this a story that will stick with the reader, long after the last page is turned, is the honest emotion on each page.

Do not miss this well-written memoir!