American Woman
A Novel

This book has an incredibly interesting premise - a fictionalized account of Patty Hearst's life as a fugitive, told through the perspective of a fellow radical/ activist Wendy Yoshimura (called Jenny Shimura in the Book) - but there are some serious problems in the execution of the story. Several p......more

the patty hearst story, told from the point of view of her asian-american female captor turned partner in crime. a stunningly written book about assimilation, radicalism, female relationships, romantic relationships, road trips, guns, survival, race, class and gender. just fucking great.......more

This is the type of book I typically avoid, but before I had a chance to run I was drawn in by this engrossing account of one fugitive trying to help three more people continue their evasion of the police. I was not far into the book (okay, chapter two) when I realized I was in a fictional account o......more

"But, they agreed, men had a culture of already-knowing, so that you could never read Marx, you had already read him. You could never have an orgasm for the first time because you already had one each time you had sex. You could never ask directions when driving--you knew where you were, even if you......more

Reading some of the bored commentaries on this book, I can only say: I feel your pain, confusion and lack of identification with this book. I felt the same when my parents and their friends launched into yet another fond memory of the Great Depression and World War II, and I began to think, "People......more