Customer Reviews

Every Secret Thing

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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I'm only 28, not old enough to have been reading newspapers when Patricia Hearst was kidnapped. So I can't really say whether this book answers all the questions that may be out there about what really happened.

What I can say is that the book offers a detailed, well written, fascinating account of the events, starting with the days before the kidnapping and ending when Hearst was granted clemency. I checked out the book after having seen the film starring Natasha Richardson (which I would also recommend), and I wasn't disappointed. It kept me up late reading past my bedtime many times. Not only is the book riveting, but it also offers what I thought was a compelling argument that Hearst and her ordeal were grossly mischaracterized and exploited by federal prosecutors and others.

This book tells an interesting story of the abduction of Patty Hearst. But the story covers more than just the kidnapping of a girl from one of the most influential families in the country. It explains the results of mental and emotional abuse, and it shows how we as people will do whatever it is we have to do to survive. The book also explores class structure in the U.S. Hearst was kidnapped at least in part because she was from a wealthy family. The Symbionese Liberation Army wanted to use her abduction to raise ransom money to feed the poor and to enhance the SLA's name recognition. But it was Hearst's financial status that prevented people from believing her story of brainwashing. People felt she was a spoiled young lady who had turned to a radical movement like so many people from the 1960s. There's one problem: she did not come of age in the 1960s. Still she would spend two years of her life in federal prison because she was unfairly an icon of the spoiled wealthy counter-culture movemet of the 60s. It would be her money and connections that would save her, however. She and her friends were able to raise money and organize a campaign to convince President Carter to pardon her. The pardon was the right thing to do, but it was not something someone poor or middle class with fewer connections would receive. Hearst's writing voice is very gentle and the story is told like it's coming from the girl next door. indeed, the reader is shocked that there seems to be very little anger. It's nice to see that Hearst has overcome that anger. Hearst talks about the SLA --- a group that is like the Manson Family with a social conscience --- in a very objective manner. The book seems to fall apart at the end. Hearst fails to inform her reader as to what happened to the boyfriend she was living with when she was kidnapped. Moreover, she provides several pictures of her police officer-turned-bodyguard-turned-boyfriend, but he seems to barely be a footnote in this book. (Hey, Ms.Hearst: we spent 57 days in a closet with you, shared a toothbrush with you, were with you through all god-awful SLA holdups, so don't you think we deserve a little romance!)The book just ends suddenly. Right when Hearst's life starts getting better the story ends. But the last few words of the book let the reader know that the author will live happily ever after.

GREAT BOOK,SHE TOLD THE SIDE OF A SCARE HUMANBEING,THAT THE PRESS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT WOUNDN'T TELL THE PEOPLE,

Book is well-used, but that was expected. I want my husband to read this account because he contends Hearst "was in with the bad guys (SLA)." I do believe her that she was beat down emotionally until she was forced to go along. Anyway, back to Item Review: A worn-out book that is yellowed with age, but this is to be expected. I was surprised to see it came from across the pond (UK). Probably cost vendor more to ship than the 'ol thing is worth. Thank you for sending it; I'll keep it with my more interesting old books by infamous authors (Monica Lewinsky, Marion Davies, Cheryl Crane, e.g.). Thnx again, and Merry Merry Christmas. 'God bless us, Every One.' -dr for Tiny Tim

Many who read Patty Hearst's book, "Every Secret Thing," will discover that she contributed the clearest critique ever offered of the anti-white mindset associated with Marxist terrorists (and many liberals). When there is a Pulitzer prize for books helpful to the cause of Americans of European descent, let it go to her.

Mrs. Hearst also spoke out against the government's common practice of burning its opponents alive; which was done in the SLA case (even when they believed Patty was in the building), in the Gordon Kahl tax protester case, the Robert Matthews case, and in the Branch Davidian case.

I have worked in fire safety for fifteen years, and while many people may think burning their political opponents alive is just as good as any other way (As in, the means justified by ends), let me assure you that it's horrifying beyond belief. It's got to be stopped, for it's a tactic we might better have expected in some no holds barred racist novel, though I don't recall even one of those stooping that low.