American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst

Complexity. I fully expected to read a few pages of Jeffrey Toobin’s book titled, American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst, and then set it aside. Instead, Toobin’s presentation of the complexity of this story grabbed me, and I stuck with him to the end. While I was somewhat aware of the events surrounding this story both at the time they took place and in the decades afterward, Toobin helped unravel multiple dimensions of the story as he laid out the kidnapping, the actions while Hearst was with the SLA, and her trial, punishment and pardon. Both readers and Toobin are still left with unanswered questions by the end alongside great satisfaction in exploring the old story in a fresh way. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase American Heiress from amazon.com.