Overview

Zayd Ayers Dohrn was born underground. His parents were fugitives after a decade fighting the US government; his mother was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. All his life, Dohrn’s parents said his birth marked a clean break with violent revolutionary struggle, but in this explosive memoir, he discovers that story wasn’t entirely true. This masterpiece of personal and social history brings us inside an infamous family and their lives underground. Using exclusive interviews and unpublished materials, Dohrn tells a new story of radical resistance, including revelations about the Weathermen’s bombing campaign, their secret alliance with the Black Liberation Army, and the dramatic prison break of Assata Shakur. Reckoning with the emotional damage the Weathermen inflicted on their victims, their children, and themselves, Dohrn’s unflinching memoir asks how a young person survives when the place they feel safest—with their family—also puts them in danger.

Full Product Details

9781324089315

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Reviews

Conjured into the present by a genuine literary master, recollecting what he saw as a sensitive child, the oft-told tale of the Weathermen catches fire here, illuminating a strangeness with which we all wrestle: the mysteries of family resentment and filial love.--Rick Perlstein Riveting as a thriller, this wise and searching memoir about a family, an era, and a movement tells a story about America we've never quite heard before. Dohrn's revelatory book about a revolution includes every last person in its circle of compassion, while also holding them to account. It's fearless, big-hearted, and profound. I simply couldn't put it down.--Cheryl Strayed Zayd Ayers Dohrn's deeply moving Dangerous, Dirty, Violent & Young swept me away. A mix of memoir, history and journalism, it's like nothing I've ever read. Dohrn isn't afraid to wrestle with the moral ambiguities of the time and of those at the center of his life. It's an astonishing story written with such an open heart.--Alex Kotlowitz

A fascinating journey that illuminates, in often thought-provoking ways, the politics of violence in radical movements.--Angela Davis A rare and profound gift--one that breaks your heart even as it quietly fills it with hope. . . . It is everything we need right now: deeply moving and urgent.--Heather Ann Thompson Conjured into the present by a genuine literary master, recollecting what he saw as a sensitive child, the oft-told tale of the Weathermen catches fire here.--Rick Perlstein It's like nothing I've ever read. . . . An astonishing story written with such an open heart.--Alex Kotlowitz Poignant, fueled with love for justice, with faith in other people, with terrific, often heartbreaking stories. . . . A page-turner and a statement of belief in the future.--Aleksandar Hemon Riveting as a thriller, this wise and searching memoir . . . tells a story about America we've never quite heard before. . . . Fearless, big-hearted, and profound. I simply couldn't put it down.--Cheryl Strayed What a book! Exhilarating, maddening, contemplative, and mournful.--Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Zayd Ayers Dohrn is a master storyteller. . . . The rare memoir that reads like a fast-paced thriller and leaves you wrestling with some of the most profound political questions of our time.--Jon Favreau

A fascinating journey that illuminates, in often thought-provoking ways, the politics of violence in radical movements.--Angela Davis A rare and profound gift--one that breaks your heart even as it quietly fills it with hope. . . . It is everything we need right now: deeply moving and urgent.--Heather Ann Thompson Conjured into the present by a genuine literary master, recollecting what he saw as a sensitive child, the oft-told tale of the Weathermen catches fire here.--Rick Perlstein It's like nothing I've ever read. . . . An astonishing story written with such an open heart.--Alex Kotlowitz Poignant, fueled with love for justice, with faith in other people, with terrific, often heartbreaking stories. . . . A page-turner and a statement of belief in the future.--Aleksandar Hemon Riveting as a thriller, this wise and searching memoir . . . tells a story about America we've never quite heard before. . . . Fearless, big-hearted, and profound. I simply couldn't put it down.--Cheryl Strayed What a book! Exhilarating, maddening, contemplative, and mournful.--Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Zayd Ayers Dohrn is a master storyteller. . . . The rare memoir that reads like a fast-paced thriller and leaves you wrestling with some of the most profound political questions of our time.--Jon Favreau Zayd Ayers Dohrn's deeply moving Dangerous, Dirty, Violent & Young swept me away. A mix of memoir, history and journalism, it's like nothing I've ever read. Dohrn isn't afraid to wrestle with the moral ambiguities of the time and of those at the center of his life. It's an astonishing story written with such an open heart.--Alex Kotlowitz

Author Information

An acclaimed playwright and screenwriter, Zayd Ayers Dohrn is a professor and director of the MFA in Writing for Screen and Stage at Northwestern University. He is creator of the hit narrative podcast Mother Country Radicals and the rock protest musical Revolution(s).

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