Soliah: The Sara Jane Olson Story

by Sharon Darby Hendry

How had an idealistic young woman become involved with the Symbionese Liberation Army, urban terrorists who murdered an Oakland school superintendent and kidnapped publishing heiress Patty Hearst? SoLiAh revisits the emotional tensions that surrounded the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the Kennedy and King assassinations, and the radical culture of the '60s and '70s. It is a true story of idealism and misguided youth gone violently wrong.

Genres: Biography

371 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

Reviews

[Faye Sleeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got more than I expected from this book, so I absorbed it over months. The history of the activist movements, including the SLA, set up the final 1/3 of the book which focused in the twists and turns of the Sara jane olson/ Kathy soliah arrest, trial, etc Living in the twin cities we had a lot of coverage but I had not paid attention to all the twists and turns .

[amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm about 1/4 finsihed with this one. I picked it up at the Wilson book sale last week. The writing isn't the best and the author rehashes a lot of history that should be common knowledge. But it also is a good intro to the SLA and the Weathermen etc...I wanted to learn more about an era that I remember from watching the cbs evening news as a kid. Patty Hearst robbing the bank is a vivid image to me from that time period.
Plus--the house where Sara Jane Olson lived in St. Paul was Amy B.'s grandparents house.

[Jennings Peeler · Rating 1 out of 5]

•
This truly is an awful book…
•
To say it is an amateurish book would be an insult to amateurs everywhere. Its presentation of background history is childish and inept. Its chronology is inaccurate when it is not disorganized. A competent editor would have ordered a complete rewrite rather than a reworking, but there is no evidence that an editor ever looked at the manuscript before it was published. The writing itself is just plain bad.
•
Don't bother is the best recommendation I can offer to those tempted to read…
•

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

•
This truly is an awful book…
•
To say it is an amateurish book would be an insult to amateurs everywhere. Its presentation of background history is childish and inept. Its chronology is inaccurate when it is not disorganized. A competent editor would have ordered a complete rewrite rather than a reworking, but there is no evidence that an editor ever looked at the manuscript before it was published. The writing itself is just plain bad.
•
Don't bother is the best recommendation I can offer to those tempted to read…
•

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very informative and what and when and where, very detailed, but it lacks the why--why did these events occur, why did this woman join the SLA, commit the crimes she did, and why did she become such an up-standing citizen and help so many people when she did that? I don't think the author understood why, and so reading her book doesn't help understand why.

[Angie Kaelberer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well-researched but plodding account of Sara Jane Olson, a.k.a Kathleen Soliah, who went from college student to SLA revolutionary to life in hiding as a wife and mother in Minnesota. This book might have improved with some better editing--for one example, two characters are mentioned on one page but not identified until several pages later. As is, though, it's a bit difficult to get through.