Patty's Got a Gun: Patricia Hearst in 1970s America

by William Graebner

It was a story so bizarre it defied belief: in April 1974, twenty-year-old newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst robbed a San Francisco bank in the company of members of the Symbionese Liberation Army—who had kidnapped her a mere nine weeks earlier. But the robbery—and the spectacular 1976 trial that ended with Hearst’s criminal conviction—seemed oddly appropriate to the troubled mood of the nation, an instant exemplar of a turbulent era.

With Patty’s Got a Gun, the first substantial reconsideration of Patty Hearst’s story in more than twenty-five years, William Graebner vividly re-creates the atmosphere of uncertainty and frustration of mid-1970s America. Drawing on copious media accounts of the robbery and trial—as well as cultural artifacts from glam rock to Invasion of the Body Snatchers—Graebner paints a compelling portrait of a nation confused and frightened by the upheavals of 1960s liberalism and beginning to tip over into what would become Reagan-era conservatism, with its invocations of individual responsibility and the heroic. Trapped in the middle of that shift, the affectless, zombielike, “brainwashed” Patty Hearst was a ready-made symbol of all that seemed to have gone wrong with the sixties—the inevitable result, some said, of rampant permissiveness, feckless elitism, the loss of moral clarity, and feminism run amok.

By offering a fresh look at Patty Hearst and her trial—for the first time free from the agendas of the day, yet set fully in their cultural context—Patty’s Got a Gun delivers a nuanced portrait of both an unforgettable moment and an entire era, one whose repercussions continue to be felt today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, True Crime, Politics, Crime

228 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2008

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"At one level these questions were about Patty, about her personality, her identity, and her social being. At another, more fundamental level, they probed the qualities and dimensions of what social scientists called, in the 1950s, the "American character" and, in the 1970s, "human nature."

Patty's Got a Gun: Patricia Hearst in 1970s America by William Graebner



I’ve read numerous books on Patty Hearst and I found this to be the most comprehensive and informative one.

It’s a pretty thick book but it gives you as much information as you could possibly want. This book does not come to any conclusions on the innocence or the guilt of Patty Hearst. What it does do and what it does well, is take the reader into that time period while Humanizing Hearst and all the people around her.

Guilty or innocent? Stockholm syndrome? That’s for the reader to decide. Of all the Hearst books around I have found this one to be the most informative and most well written.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished The Girls a fictionalized version of the Mason Murders and then inhaled Patty's Got a Gun: Patricia Hearst in 1970s America an accounting of the Patty Hearst case. The author did a great job of reanalyzing the case through a modern lens. Was Patty a victim, a survivor, an heiress, a feminist, a revolutionary, or all of the above. My next book is going to be Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders.

I am however left with a question. Why am I and many others so fascinated with these stories? I can only speak for myself but it came to me suddenly. The answer is terrorism: the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of social and/or political aims. Mason and the SLA were terrorists. I want to know how and why people do horrific things in the name of a distorted ideology. Perhaps these books will help.

[Margot Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really interesting look back and analysis of the sensational trial that marked the end of the "permissive" 1960s and set the stage for the rise of Reagan conservatism in the 1980s. Graebner lays out a compelling case that America could not accept a psycholocially-coerced Patty Hearst and had to view her as acting from free will (even after being kidnapped, raped, trapped in a closet, etc.) With rich detail (news accounts, editorials, testimony from the trial, etc.), Graebner shows how PH's case was a harbinger for a return to the individualism, male authority, pull yourself up by the bootstraps mentality of the Reagan era. I recommend this for anyone who is a student of history, psychology, politics, media or has an interest in PH's case.

[fleegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was some fascinating reading. It wasn’t just another book about the Patty Hearst debacle. It was way more than that. It was more like a cultural history of the ’70s using P.H. as a catalyst, (is that the right word?) for the ’80s and it’s New Conservatism and it’s Ronald Reagan.

Like I said, this isn’t just a book about P.H. and her life and times with the SLA. The author does a good job of giving the reader an overview of what happened, but the main point of the book is to take that situation and explain how it happened (mostly the outcome of the trial) and compare/contrast it to everything else that was going on at the time, things like: Korean/Vietnam POWs, Dr. Spock’s child rearing books, cults, religion, 1960s revolutions, loads of psychology… there are a ton of things discussed in this book and none of them are boring.

He spends most of the book (or maybe half?) on the trial itself. I was glad of that because it seems like the trial is glossed over a lot, or that it gets overlooked or something, but not here.

The only negative thing I can say about the book is that it’s written a bit academically, so it seems that maybe the author’s personality isn’t expressed? I’m not explaining that very well. The book was filled with cultural references but also it was a little dry. I would have appreciated some humor. Maybe not humor, but snark. And not snark for snark’s sake (I mean, gee, how hard is it to make fun of the ’70s?), because I think with this author the snark would be awesome and well-informed. Or maybe there was some in there and I missed it because the book was too busy making me think.

It took me a bit longer to read this book (and it’s not a large book) because it was just jam full of facts and notes. At times it was difficult for me to take it all in. I’d have to set the book down and do something else. And I can’t even say that’s a bad thing, because I’d find myself at work thinking about book all, “How on earth could any jury not have gotten stuck on reasonable doubt?!” or “I’ve never thought about it before but, YES, America DOES love escapees!” And we do! I thought about that all day at work yesterday.

I went from thinking about how many movies about prison breakouts we have (there’s even a show called Prison Break, right?), and how we even make the good guys out to be the bad guys so that we can cheer the bad guys who are trying to escape from prison, to thinking about Arkham Asylum in the Batman comics/movies/universe and how if the bad guys didn’t escape from Arkham then there’d be little point in Batman. And not only those senarios, but what about car chases? And then to try to break it down into it’s simplest form, you have one individual break out of the authority of another individual.

So while it’s not a simple read, I’d still say it’s a great read. By far one of the most interesting books I’ve read in a long time. Thank you, Mr. Graebner, for writing such a thought-provoking book.

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmmm, how to make the story of Patty Hearst and the SLA as interesting as a listing in the TV Guide? One could start with a synopsis of the bones of the story, and follow it up with a remarkably dry myth-and-symbol 'analysis' of the imaginings of Patty/Tania vis-a-vis American culture. Color me extremely disappointed. The best books I've read to date about these events are novels: Christopher Sorrentino's "Trance", Amy Choi's "American Woman". I'm still waiting for a substantial, perceptive history and analysis of this, and the Manson story -- the bizarre events that haunted my girlhood.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm fascinated with the Patty Hearst kidnapping and because of the mixture of charismatic leadership and manipulation, and class warfare.

One thing I disliked about this book was how briefly the author covered the actual abduction. The facts surrounding Patty's life prior to the abduction and during the actual abduction take up about 30 pages total.

The rest of the book focuses on the trial and how America interpreted the events. The author points to psychology, cinema, and music to show how culture "created" Patty and the varied responses to her ordeal across the nation.

I thought the author was very thorough in providing support for both extreme versions of Patty: newly liberated thinker who was empowered by her political awakening and disenchanted with her privileged life and a willful participant-- (VERSUS) -- The brainwashed victim and delicate flower who was manipulated throughout the ordeal.
Personally, I'm leaning towards the "liberated thinker and willful participant" theory. The fact that we may never know the truth is what makes the lady and the world's reaction to her story so interesting.

Will definitely be reading more books about her ordeal.

[While reading this book, I was listening to the band Cults album a lot and reading a Jim Jones biography too. The band samples Jim Jones' speeches on a couple of tracks. So now I will forever think of Patty Hearst and her SLA captor/rapist/lover (depending on your interpretation)Willie Wolfe Cujo when I hear the band's love song, "Abducted": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i1MXH...]

[Katherine Basto · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this book gives an interesting synopsis of the Patty Hearst abduction, her trial and the aftermath. The author does a decent job describing the context of the abduction and what was happening during the turbulent '70s. However, there are so many quotes from different newspapers and magazines about the case, that is became predictable. It was distracting after awhile.
The second half of the book is a psychological analysis that seems like the author needed to fulfill page amounts and had to make the book longer. This was disappointing.
He stretches it by tying in movies like the Exorcist with Patty's possession and all the other issues plaguing the '70s. Throughout the book, he briefly touches on many aspects. The abduction section could have been longer. It's clear the author is a journalist who tried to tie everything together and make a tapestry from lots of threads.
I learned alot about the overall case. I enjoy Creative Nonfiction but it really didn't satisfy me as regards getting into the head of Patty, her life and other issues regarding the kidnapping.

[Jon]

In this book Graebner mentions the Ramones, but for some reason doesn't mention their song ("Judy Is A Punk") that mentioned the Symbionese Liberation Army, the radical group that kidnapped Patty Hearst. In his tangent about the CBGB punk rock scene, he ALSO fails to mention Patti Smith's first record, which was a reworking of the rock standard "Hey Joe" as a tribute to Hearst! What's up with THAT?

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is in two halves, the "story" and then the cultural critique. The story half is actually pretty light on details. What's provided is there to stack the deck for the critique part. I don't fault the guy for this strategy since the goal of the book is clearly academic, but as a narrative of the events surrounding Hearts and the SLA and the whathaveyou, it leaves a bit to be desired.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patty Hearst, grandchild of William Randolph Hearst (the guy Welles based Citizen Kane on) was an unremarkable college student until the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped her. Then they brainwashed her into joining them — or was she a true believer lying about it to avoid jail time.
The first half recounts the events and the way the country interpreted them, generally by ignoring the SLA's politics and focusing on permissiveness, the evils of liberated women, welfare queens and all the other explanations the right-wing backlash to the 1960s coughed up.
The second half is nominally about the culture of the 1970s and how it perceived victims, violence, self-responsibility and heroism but it feels like padding unrelated to Hearst and her experiences (seriously, trying to compare her to the demonic-possessed Linda Blair in The Exorcist?). And sometimes it's plain wrong — it's well-documented that Roe vs. Wade didn't influence the rise of the religious right the way racial integration did.

[K2 ----- · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this after reading the Toobin book "American Heiress." I can't believe this is an academic book. It seemed so uneven and poorly edited. It was worth reading but the second half seemed very weak and the popular culture references surprised me too.

If you grew up during this time in America it is a reminder how the whole country was shaken heads by this story and the backdrop of the times helps us to reflect all that was wonky about this time in history. Bombings, kidnappings, upheavals, drugs, D.B. Cooper, Ted Bundy, Manson, Patty Hearst

I have to say it is still a head scratcher but I did gain some insights from this uneven tome.

[Nex Juice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book! I found it so interesting it took me longer to read than I expected, because I wanted to read nearly every word!

This is an in depth look at the 1976 trial of Patricia Hearst, a woman from an affluent background who was kidnapped and ended up helping her captors and basically joining up with them. Stockholm syndrome was popularized by mainstream media a few years later. Her case was so unique and fascinating from a psychological standpoint.

This book isn’t in my typical genre, but I quite enjoyed the exploration of the power of the human mind - as well as learning about the 1970s and the way court cases are influenced by politics and media.

[Mikey Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of patty in itself is SO interesting and got me hooked. But once we passed the verdict, the reactions, and life after I lost interest.. which was halfway through the book. The second half was still interesting as they broke down evidence more, the story, etc. but I wish they did that throughout and didn’t rush to the end halfway through.

[Michael Byron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very interesting book. I expected a book totally immersed in the specific facts of the story. However the author uses approximately half the book to analyze Patty Hearst’s behavior, the possible reasons for the jury’s verdict, and the possible societal impacts on the case.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Powerful narrative. However, a would have preferred more analysis on understanding Patty Hearst's decisions and placing the incident within the historical context.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was... ok. Most of the focus of the book ended up being on the media and public reaction to the Hearst case, and how it reflected a kind of sea change from ideas and theories about criminality from the 60s to the way people reacted to things in the 80s. My main problem was that the author didn't really go into enough detail about anything -- it felt like he was saying, "This is how things were, and this is how they changed" without enough to back it up. So it was interesting, but overall felt kind of... slight, I guess. Sort of like a term paper that got expanded into a monograph. In a lot of ways, I think he would have been better served by focusing one one or two issues (the public image of psychology, for example, or the way Hearst reflected changing impressions of radical feminism) rather than trying to cover the whole gamut in one brief book.

[Margaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good account of Patty Hearst’s kidnapping and involvement in crime, and how the crimes fed into a burgeoning culture of right wing crime narratives that made space for someone like Reagan to become president and shape the United States for decades to come. Her story is a great example of how politics can definitely be downstream of culture, and then how they feed into each other. Media, cults, politics, crime, feminism, class divisions, and even more themes run throughout. Quick and short read about the era and specifically Patty Heart’s abduction.

4/5 stars

I own a physical copy of this book.

[Tanya Lolonis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graebner re-visits the story of Patty Hearst's kidnapping and criminal adventures, and describes how America reacted to its amibuity. Found his analysis succinct and extremely thought-provoking -- namely, the nature of personal identity. Was she victim? Survivor? Was she a victim of the Stockholm Syndrom? Appropriately paranoid about the FBI and police? He argues that our fascination with her story was a factor in our new longing for heroism, and how this helped shape the emerging Reagan-era conservatism.
Made me fascinated about Patty all over again.

[Jennifer Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. The author sets the Patty Hearst story in the context of the social change of the 1970s. I had to skim some parts (since I was on a road trip while I read it), but I found the conclusions in particular of great interest. Good insights into one of the weirder chapters of American history.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in that the second section of this book addresses different ways in which the Patty Hearst case was framed and how she was portrayed by the media and the public. Unfortunately a lot of the references appear to be a big stretch and are very briefly mentioned so the reader doesn't really get an explanation on why such tenuous parallels are being drawn.

[Daniel Burton-Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only does Graebner do no original research, he doesn't even synthesize the SLA and the Hearst case well. How can there have been so many books on the SLA in their short lifetime, and so little of substance since?

[Tobias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating post-modernist account of a notorious political kidnapping case in mid-1970s America. Like a window into a world when the post-1960s 'Silent Majority'/'Moral Majority'/Reaganite views were first forming.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skipped the narrative of Hearst's kidnapping and captivity, since I knew that fairly well already. Graebner's analysis of how Hearst came to become an overdetermined symbol of, well, everything in 1970s American culture was really fascinating and will be extremely useful in my classes.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent dissection of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, trial, and everything in between and in the aftermath, all in the context of the politics, culture and conventions of the times.

[Daniel Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting subject, but the narrative meanders constantly into irritating socio-philosophical musings and the book as a whole is too sympathetic to Patty Hearst.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

An academic treatment of a bizarre incident in 1970s America.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why can't I get enough of Patty Hearst? Why why why.