Fugitive Days is a memoir by Bill Ayers. Ayers chronicles his childhood, his radicalization, his days as a leader of the Weather Underground, and his days on the run from the US government. The book was originally published by Beacon Press in 2001 and was republished by Penguin Group in 2003, featuring a new afterword by the author.
Timothy Noah of Slate described Ayers' tales of bombings and other illegal activities as "self-indulgent and morally clueless...Ayers periodically expresses mild regret for his crimes, in tones reminiscent of a middle-aged insurance executive who wishes he hadn't gotten drunk quite so often at his college fraternity". Former Weather member Cathy Wilkerson called it "inaccurate" and "a cynical, superficial romp...making these struggles seem like a glorious carnival". Jesse Lemisch's New Politics review describes it as "a dubious account, full of anachronisms, inaccuracies, unacknowledged borrowings from unnamed sources...It's also faux literary and soft core... littered with boasts of Ayers's sexual achievements, utterly untouched by feminism."
In contrast, Studs Terkel called the book "a deeply moving elegy to all those young dreamers who tried to live decently in an indecent world".
In October 2008 it was reported that John D. Hancock was attempting to make a movie based on the book.
References
- # Ayers, William. 2001. Fugitive Days: A Memoir. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-8070-7124-2.
- Noah, Timothy, "Radical Chic Resurgent", Slate, Aug. 22, 2001.
- ^ Lemisch, Jesse, "Weather Underground Rises from the Ashes: They're Baack! Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine", New Politics, Vol. XI, No. 1.
- Fugitive Days: A Memoir. Penguin Books. 28 January 2003. ISBN 9780142002551.
- Ressner, Jeffrey (2008-10-06). "Ayers script hopes to gain from Obama". The Politico. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
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