Patricia HearstBesprekingen

I was really surprised how well the book read. I expected it to be much drier and perhaps whiny. I barely remember the news stories growing up, but I do remember the Free Patty Hearst T-shirts and the ads in Creem and other pulp rock magazines. Her trial though in her eyes, reminded a bit of Meursault being tried for not crying at his mother's funeral and Patty being tried for what she did to the upper and middle class image than for the bank robbery... of course it is her story

A fictional take on the murder of Thomas H. Ince, who's death was famously hushed up. The story takes place in both the present and the past. A young lady searches for answers about her ancestry, and discovers that her grandmother worked for Marion Davies and was in proximity to Ince at the time of his death. The cast of characters is familiar: William Randolph Heart, Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin, Louella Parsons, Elinor Glyn. The setting: the magnificent Hearst Castle. A worthwhile read.

Patty Hearst recounts the tale of her infamous kidnapping and “brainwashing” by the Symbionese Liberation Army in the early 1970s, explaining in a factual, unemotional tone how she was converted from a rich, naive heiress into a misguided revolutionary. Hearst is not a great writer, and I was often forced to skim large portions of the narrative that I found simply boring, but the bumbling efforts of the homegrown terrorist group are fascinating, and the book does give an interesting inside glimpse into one of the more bizarre events in American history.

While this book is a fictional account of the death of film producer Thomas Ince, at San Simeon, grand-daughter of William Randolph Hearst has undertaken to weave the truths and facts to be found into the story. Includes the guests at San Simeon the night of the murder; Charlie Chaplin and wife, John Barrymore, Elinor Glyn and lover, William Randolph Hearts and his mistress Marion Davies.