Kathy Boudin and the Dance of Death Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Kathy Boudin and the Dance of Death? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Kathy Boudin and the Dance of Death. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Kathy Boudin and the Dance of Death ReviewI picked this book up because I was interested in Kathy Boudin, one of the radicals from the 'sixties', who helped hold up a 1980's robbery of a Brinks truck hauling a Lot of money, to use for the 'revolution'.
This book is the worst nonfiction book I've ever read, hands down. I have two main complaints. The first is that the author can't write. The book is basically an extended chronology of Boudin's life as an adult, focusing on her crime, and her life in prison. There is some description, but it is too limited. There is nothing about Boudin's childhood or adolescence, except that she liked to be "active".
The second problem I have is that somewhere in the middle of the book, the author - who says she is a reporter - changes the entire tone of the book. The first part was straight reporting, but suddenly changes to an extreme criticism of Boudin, and of her father, the radical attorney Leonard Boudin. This is almost two books shoved together, and not shoved together very well, at that.
One of my worst criticisms of this book is that the author makes dozens of very extreme statements, as if they are totally true, yet bases them on - nothing! She has no bibiography, no footnotes, no interviewees, no nothing. One example is "The tragedy of (two female radicals, who were Boudin's friends) and the other women in her circle [who] did not challenge the male Left's premises." Hello! Just how did the author know this? And even if this did happen, the author phrases the comment to say that the women Never challenged the men. This is impossible for the author to say; she has no idea what the women actually did, on every single occasion as re: the men. And her statements are all like this: This act, action, etc. was the most extreme that it could be, and it happened All The Time. It felt like a young child had written this book, and not an adult.
With the exception of Boudin's Mom, the author also hates Boudin (and her father), and any of her Supporters (read: Leftists) so much that the author over and over again takes any tiny action and twists it to support the basis of her hatred. For example, in response to a letter from the author for an interview, Kathy Boudin wrote back ". . . [in] small uncertain script, . . . the margins got larger and the sentences smaller, . . . the writing formed a jagged V, withering away of the early strong & somewhat accusatory tone. . . The overall impression . . . summed up by a single word: schizoid." The author is not a psychologist; she has no ability whatsoever to make this 'judgment'.
In addition, I am a lawyer, and the author makes some glaring statements demonstrating her serious ignorance about our legal system. She claims, repeatedly, that 'poor' Sam Brown, another co-defendant being tried in this case for a felony, had 'no attorney', unlike Boudin. The truth is that anyone in the U.S. accused of a felony is assigned an attorney. It is true that Boudin could afford a better lawyer as she was wealthy, but that is the terrible truth in our legal system in all cases, not just this one. The author also objects to Boudin's father for asking the judge for a change of venue, to try the case in a different county. Well, this is just what ANY good lawyer would do, and it is routine.
The author also tells us that she is a Feminist, and proceeds to indict Leonard Boudin, and all the professional men of his generation, because their wives did little but help their husbands. (Once again, another extreme generalization). Well, I am a Feminist also, and the author needs to realize that 1) that was their generation, they knew no other way (for the most part); and 2) Feminism means a woman's right to Choose her path in life. And if that means she Wants to just help her husband, as much as the author may blow her stack, that is that woman's right.
And, finally, at the end of the book, we have no idea whether Boudin was successful, or if she was sentenced. This is even so, as the author explains the outcome of the trial(s) as per the others indicted in the Brinks' robbery.
There is really nothing good in this book. I just wished the editor had acted like a real editor and had shaped the book, so that it wasn't so outlandish.Kathy Boudin and the Dance of Death Overview

Want to learn more information about Kathy Boudin and the Dance of Death?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now