1974: A Personal History

"In this remarkable memoir, the qualities that have long distinguished Francine Prose’s fiction and criticism—uncompromising intelligence, a gratifying aversion to sentiment, the citrus bite of irony—give rigor and, finally, an unexpected poignancy to an emotional, artistic, and political coming-of-age tale set in the 1970s—the decade, as she memorably puts it, when American youth realized that the changes that seemed possible in the ’60s weren’t going to happen. A fascinating and ultimately wrenching book."—Daniel Mendelsohn, author of The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million The first literary memoir from critically acclaimed, bestselling author Francine Prose, about the close relationship she developed with activist Anthony Russo, one of the men who leaked the Pentagon Papers—and the year when our country changed. During her twenties, Francine Prose lived in San Francisco, where she began an intense and strange relationship with Tony Russo, who had been indicted and tried for working with Daniel Ellsberg to leak the Pentagon papers. The narrative is framed around the nights she spent with Russo driving manically around 1970s San Francisco, listening to his stories—and the disturbing and dramatic end of that relationship in New York. What happens to them mirrors the events and preoccupations of that historical moment in the Watergate era: the Vietnam war, drugs, women's liberation, the Patty Hearst kidnapping. At once heartfelt and ironic, funny and sad, personal and political, 1974 provides an insightful look at how Francine Prose became a writer and artist during a time when the country, too, was shaping its identity. What happens when a young writer’s coming-of-age story collides with one of the biggest political scandals in American history? A Whistleblower Story: Go behind the headlines for an intimate, firsthand account of Anthony Russo, the complex and charismatic man who helped Daniel Ellsberg leak the Pentagon Papers. Political Coming-of-Age: Witness how a young Francine Prose finds her voice as a writer against the turbulent backdrop of the Vietnam War, radical activism, and women’s liberation. Counterculture History: Experience the charged atmosphere of a nation grappling with its identity, from the Patty Hearst kidnapping to the lingering idealism of the 1960s. An Unforgettable Voice: Discover the incisive wit, sharp intelligence, and unflinching honesty that have made Francine Prose one of her generation’s most acclaimed literary figures.