''Fugitive Days'' is a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

by Bill Ayers. Ayers chronicles his childhood, his

radicalization Radicalization (or radicalisation) is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The ideas of society at large shape the outcomes of radicalizat ...

, his days as a leader of the

Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a Far-left politics, far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organiz ...

, and his days on the run from the

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

. The book was originally published by

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...

in 2001 and was republished by

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...

in 2003, featuring a new afterword by the author.

Timothy Noah Timothy Robert Noah (born 1958), an American journalist and author, is a staff writer at ''The New Republic.'' Previously he was labor policy editor for ''Politico'', a contributing writer at MSNBC.com, a senior editor of ''The New Republic'' ass ...

of ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' 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".Noah, Timothy,
Radical Chic Resurgent
, ''

'', Aug. 22, 2001. Former Weather member

Cathy Wilkerson Cathlyn Platt Wilkerson (born January 14, 1945), known as Cathy Wilkerson, is an American far-left radical who was a member of the 1970s radical group called the Weather Underground Organization (WUO). She came to the attention of the police when ...

called it "inaccurate" and "a cynical, superficial romp...making these struggles seem like a glorious carnival".Lemisch, Jesse,
Weather Underground Rises from the Ashes: They're Baack!
", ''New Politics'', Vol. XI, No. 1.

Jesse Lemisch Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' (a ...

'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 Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral his ...

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 John D. Hancock (born February 12, 1939) is an American stage and film director, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his work on ''Bang the Drum Slowly''. Hancock's theatrical work includes direction of both classic and contempor ...

was attempting to make a movie based on the book.

References

Beacon Press books Weather Underground Books about activists 2001 non-fiction books {{US-bio-book-stub