Jeffrey Toobin's "American Heiress"-Patty Hearst Kidnapping-Napping is a Better Use of Your Time

"American Heiress The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes & Trial of Patty Hearst" by Jeffrey Toobin should have made for intriguing reading & resolution of what during the 1970's, came to represent the turmoil, economic collapse, rampant depravity & social unrest in our nation.  As iconic an image Patty Hearst holding a machine gun & wearing a black beret remains for many, she has become all but forgotten by anyone born after 1980.  Toobin (b NYC 1960) is an author, attorney & legal analyst for the New Yorker & CNN.  Toobin would be thought to be someone to shed light on the mystery of whether Patty was a mere patsy, unjustly convicted and sentenced, or a willing participate in felonious crimes committed as a member of the Sybanese Liberation Army (SLA.)  The SLA doesn't  resonate today although it was among the militant groups & cults such as the Black Panthers, Charles Mason & James Jones.  Toobin is the author of "A Vast Conspiracy," (00) an investigation into the lurid sex scandals of Pres Bill Clinton.  "American Heiress" tries to be titilating with sexual alliances within the SLA but became tedious along with TMI on individuals in the SLA, the group's movements & helter skelter planning and the minutia of an era overflowing with corruption & disillusionment.  The Hearst kidnapping in 1973 became emblematic of the political culture for the country during Watergate, the Middle East Crisis, civil unrest & the evacuation in Viet Nam.  The Hearst operation was one of the largest & most complex kidnapping investigations in the history of the FBI.  An interesting fact now  forgotten, the coverage of the Hearst kidnapping was the 1st, live national news event broadcast.  What wanted to discover from Toobin's legal viewpoint, was Hearst's guilt or innocence.  Patty was quoted from her autobiography, "The real choice he {DeFreeze} was offering was to join them or be executed."  Toobin stated that Patricia kept asking to be released but "her evolution from empathy to sympathy was gradual but that evolution did take place."  This was mid-way through a turgid biography I had already lost interest in prior to Patty's capture & media, courtroom circus.  DeFreeze, the self-appointed SLA leader's motto was  "Death to the facist insect that prey upon the life of the people."  However, most people don't have any knowledge of the SLA, Patty Hearst or whatever the Hell this meant.   Napping, rather than reading the kidnapping of Patty Hearst would've been time better spent.