Growing Up Weather Underground

Ah, to have been a fly on the wall during the Weather Underground meetings in the Sixties. Now, we have something even better: a memoir from Bill Ayers’ adopted son (and later, Rhodes Scholar) Chesa Boudin, who recounts his experiences growing up with some of the most notorious people in America for parents. In Gringo: A Coming-of-Age in Latin America, Boudin describes not only his radical upbringing but also the decade he spent traveling around South America. Gringo may sound intriguing, but the book comes up short when it comes to writing. The New York Times writes of Boudin’s style: “It belongs in a yoga magazine, not between hardcovers.” What would Bill Ayers say to that?