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1974: A Personal History
The first 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 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: 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.
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 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: 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.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 18, 2024
About the author
Francine Prose
171 books814 followersFrancine Prose is the author of twenty works of fiction. Her novel A Changed Man won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and Blue Angel was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her most recent works of nonfiction include the highly acclaimed Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife, and the New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer. The recipient of numerous grants and honors, including a Guggenheim and a Fulbright, a Director's Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, Prose is a former president of PEN American Center, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her most recent book is Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932. She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 30, 2024
1974 is Francine Prose’s memoir of a year in her life, an eventful one for her and a momentous one for the country as well. In her 20s, escaping a marriage she just doesn’t want, nothing bad, just mutual disinterest, she winds up at the home of friends in San Francisco, still a Mecca of sorts for youth even after the hay days have ended. She has written two books that are in the process of being published and a bit scattered about her next move.
One evening she is playing cards with her roommates and their friend, Tony Russo, who proves to be an interesting guy. Although I believe I’m only a few years younger than Prose, I think I likely fall into a large group of Americans who aren’t familiar with his name. Anthony “Tony” Russo leaked the Pentagon Papers along with Daniel Ellsberg. According to some sources, it was initially his idea. This memoir recreates Prose’s time with Russo as she learns his stories from Vietnam, Rand Corp, jail, coping with the FBI, etc. We follow as Prose comes to terms with who she is when she is with this older man (who is in his 30s) trying to come to grips with what has happened in and to his life.
I found this a very interesting read, a memoir set at the time of change from the tumultuous 60s to the more controlled 70s. Prose is a keen observer of her younger self as part of both worlds. It is not written in a strictly linear fashion at times, but as memory intrudes. That didn’t interfere with my enjoyment or understanding. Recommended as memoir and also for its political/ historical content.
Thanks to Harper Collins Publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This review is my own.
One evening she is playing cards with her roommates and their friend, Tony Russo, who proves to be an interesting guy. Although I believe I’m only a few years younger than Prose, I think I likely fall into a large group of Americans who aren’t familiar with his name. Anthony “Tony” Russo leaked the Pentagon Papers along with Daniel Ellsberg. According to some sources, it was initially his idea. This memoir recreates Prose’s time with Russo as she learns his stories from Vietnam, Rand Corp, jail, coping with the FBI, etc. We follow as Prose comes to terms with who she is when she is with this older man (who is in his 30s) trying to come to grips with what has happened in and to his life.
I found this a very interesting read, a memoir set at the time of change from the tumultuous 60s to the more controlled 70s. Prose is a keen observer of her younger self as part of both worlds. It is not written in a strictly linear fashion at times, but as memory intrudes. That didn’t interfere with my enjoyment or understanding. Recommended as memoir and also for its political/ historical content.
Thanks to Harper Collins Publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This review is my own.
January 13, 2024
"1974"
Author: Francine Prose
Publication Date: June 18, 2024
This exquisitely crafted and enthralling book, with its eloquent prose and meticulous attention to detail, offers readers a profound and moving insight into a solemn period of history. From the very first page, I had high expectations for this memoir, and I am delighted to say that it not only met them but far exceeded them.
In this remarkable account, the author fearlessly delves into her deep and personal connection with Tony Russo, a man whose life became intricately entangled with the infamous Pentagon Papers. Through her vivid storytelling, she takes us on an emotional journey down memory lane.
Much thanks to NetGalley, Harper, and Francine Prose for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Author: Francine Prose
Publication Date: June 18, 2024
This exquisitely crafted and enthralling book, with its eloquent prose and meticulous attention to detail, offers readers a profound and moving insight into a solemn period of history. From the very first page, I had high expectations for this memoir, and I am delighted to say that it not only met them but far exceeded them.
In this remarkable account, the author fearlessly delves into her deep and personal connection with Tony Russo, a man whose life became intricately entangled with the infamous Pentagon Papers. Through her vivid storytelling, she takes us on an emotional journey down memory lane.
Much thanks to NetGalley, Harper, and Francine Prose for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 19, 2024
Ugh. This is not a telling of history but reads more like a rant. She says it herself (several times), she comes from privilege and yet she still tells her privileged account of the atrocities occurring during the Vietnam War. I struggled with her lack of facts, lack of historical building, and unsupported opinions. I had to keep googling events to figure out her references. Does she not realize most of the population was not even alive in 1974.
My harshest review this year because I was left wanting so much more. I received an ARC from Net Galley and Harper in exchange for an honest review.
My harshest review this year because I was left wanting so much more. I received an ARC from Net Galley and Harper in exchange for an honest review.
April 1, 2024
An interesting lens through which to view a complicated moment in the country’s history. That Prose is a gifted writer is news to no one, but the voice in this memoir is deliciously frank and self-critical in a way that gets you inside her 20-something, 1974 head. This memoir trope can be cringe-y, but in Prose’s hands the observations are unexpectedly funny, expectedly smart, and wholly fascinating.
May 20, 2024
I completely understand why Francine Prose needed to write this memoir about her relationship with Pentagon Papers co-conspirator Tony Russo. I'm a little less clear about why I needed to read it. I can't entirely articulate why this book didn't fire me up, but it could have something to do with the over-worn theme of boomer idealism gone sour, and I may also have trouble with protagonists (in this case the author) who take tarot cards and I Ching seriously. But I can also tell that many others will like this memoir more than I did.
Francine Prose does, however, deserve considerable credit for portraying her younger self as somewhat unlikeable. And the off-kilter charm and strangeness of Tony Russo is portrayed evocatively.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collin's for providing an early copy for review.
Francine Prose does, however, deserve considerable credit for portraying her younger self as somewhat unlikeable. And the off-kilter charm and strangeness of Tony Russo is portrayed evocatively.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collin's for providing an early copy for review.
June 23, 2024
I've enjoyed reading Francine Prose's fiction for many years, as well as her shorter form literary criticism and her wonderful guide to the craft of writing (and reading), READING LIKE A WRITER. Prose's new work is her first foray into memoir territory. It’s both strikingly intimate and self-reflective, as well as a commentary on a particular time and place.
That time, as you might gather from the title, is 1974, and the place is, for the most part, San Francisco. I live in the Bay Area, and the San Francisco of 50 years ago that Prose describes feels almost entirely alien to the city as it is now --- the kind of place where artists, writers, activists and eccentrics could pursue their passions while paying cheap rent for apartments with a garden and still be able to live on "avocado sandwiches on San Francisco sourdough bread with mayo, black pepper and alfalfa sprouts." About the only thing that feels familiar in Prose's descriptions of a city both run-down and alive with energy is the weather, which "felt like a personal insult."
But all that was beginning to change, as Prose gradually realizes in the context of a brief relationship with Tony Russo. Along with Daniel Ellsberg, Russo, a former RAND Corporation employee, was one of the whistleblowers responsible for leaking the so-called Pentagon Papers, the documents that showed that the Johnson administration, in particular, had repeatedly lied to the American public about the objectives of the war in Vietnam. Russo was a bona fide antiwar hero when Prose met him through a mutual friend. He also was quite a bit older than her, so when he began to show interest in talking with her --- mostly over long meandering drives through the streets of San Francisco --- she was flattered by his attention.
It turns out that both Prose and Russo were in San Francisco to write books. For Prose, who then was in her late 20s, it was to pen her third novel. Russo was working on material for his memoirs. Over the course of the book, readers learn that Prose also was there to escape her brief failed marriage, as well as to recover from an apparent breakdown during which she became increasingly unable to leave her Cambridge apartment. Talking with Russo became a distraction, a validation and a way to delay the inevitability of dealing with the rest of her life. But when she returned to the East Coast and reunited with Russo in New York City a few months later, she began to see him in a new light. He was less a figure to be idolized and more someone to be frightened of, or at least frightened for.
The year 1974 was, in Prose's reckoning, a turning point, not only for herself but also for the country, and her reunion with Russo threw this change into high relief: "It was 1974. You didn’t sit on the floor the way people did in the 1960s. It was 1974. Freedom only went so far…. You were dealing with a product, not a plan to save the world, not a way to make amends for your role in prolonging a war. You were part of a chain producing a product, like sneakers or potatoes." The Tony Russo she depicts was a product of his time, soon out of step in the post-war landscape where antiwar activists had to get regular jobs, put on grown-up clothes, and get on with the business of being responsible consumers.
Even if the milieu of Prose's memoir seems like a distant memory --- 50 years on from the events she recounts in its pages --- the trajectory she draws from the idealistic, free-wheeling activism of the years before 1974 and the commodification of, well, everything we see in 2024 is clear. Its message is soberingly relevant, even today.
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
That time, as you might gather from the title, is 1974, and the place is, for the most part, San Francisco. I live in the Bay Area, and the San Francisco of 50 years ago that Prose describes feels almost entirely alien to the city as it is now --- the kind of place where artists, writers, activists and eccentrics could pursue their passions while paying cheap rent for apartments with a garden and still be able to live on "avocado sandwiches on San Francisco sourdough bread with mayo, black pepper and alfalfa sprouts." About the only thing that feels familiar in Prose's descriptions of a city both run-down and alive with energy is the weather, which "felt like a personal insult."
But all that was beginning to change, as Prose gradually realizes in the context of a brief relationship with Tony Russo. Along with Daniel Ellsberg, Russo, a former RAND Corporation employee, was one of the whistleblowers responsible for leaking the so-called Pentagon Papers, the documents that showed that the Johnson administration, in particular, had repeatedly lied to the American public about the objectives of the war in Vietnam. Russo was a bona fide antiwar hero when Prose met him through a mutual friend. He also was quite a bit older than her, so when he began to show interest in talking with her --- mostly over long meandering drives through the streets of San Francisco --- she was flattered by his attention.
It turns out that both Prose and Russo were in San Francisco to write books. For Prose, who then was in her late 20s, it was to pen her third novel. Russo was working on material for his memoirs. Over the course of the book, readers learn that Prose also was there to escape her brief failed marriage, as well as to recover from an apparent breakdown during which she became increasingly unable to leave her Cambridge apartment. Talking with Russo became a distraction, a validation and a way to delay the inevitability of dealing with the rest of her life. But when she returned to the East Coast and reunited with Russo in New York City a few months later, she began to see him in a new light. He was less a figure to be idolized and more someone to be frightened of, or at least frightened for.
The year 1974 was, in Prose's reckoning, a turning point, not only for herself but also for the country, and her reunion with Russo threw this change into high relief: "It was 1974. You didn’t sit on the floor the way people did in the 1960s. It was 1974. Freedom only went so far…. You were dealing with a product, not a plan to save the world, not a way to make amends for your role in prolonging a war. You were part of a chain producing a product, like sneakers or potatoes." The Tony Russo she depicts was a product of his time, soon out of step in the post-war landscape where antiwar activists had to get regular jobs, put on grown-up clothes, and get on with the business of being responsible consumers.
Even if the milieu of Prose's memoir seems like a distant memory --- 50 years on from the events she recounts in its pages --- the trajectory she draws from the idealistic, free-wheeling activism of the years before 1974 and the commodification of, well, everything we see in 2024 is clear. Its message is soberingly relevant, even today.
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
June 26, 2024
I've been a fan of Francine Prose since the 1990s when I read Judah the Pious. She's a very talented writer. This book first caught my attention because I was born in 1974. What was going on that year? Well- this is a memoir and not history.
I can tell you it's nearly impossible to be more different than my parents and Prose, Anthony Russo, and their crowd of privileged college grads involved in the anti-war movement, free love, dabbling in eastern spirituality, and generally doing anything to rile up the establishment and squares. You can see their descendents now at Columbia and Cal in protests, praising murderous theocratic militias in the name of "anti-colonialsm," in polycules, and being the vanguard of both gentrification and progressive politics. This was the same pattern of the San Francisco Prose romanticized in the book.
Prose needed to write about Anthony Russo, who was the lesser known guy involved in the Pentagon Papers leak. Younger readers, or those unlike me with an obsession with the 60s (which ended in the mid-70s) and the 90s, may not be familiar with the Pentagon Papers. Google them. Set the tone for the turning of the tide of public opinion against American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Russo was smart, had the courage of his convictions, and more than likely was caught up in the idealism of the era (which often made heroes of murderers and some very bad actors). He was also mentally unwell. Prose was attracted to him in ways deeper than physical and carried those memories for the rest of her life. She needed to write about him. I get the sense that this was therapeutic. I would've liked to have known more about the life of Russo after the 1970s. We got nothing until he dies in 2008.
In writing about Russo and 1974, Prose also takes us from her 1960s idealism to her life of comfort and wealth very far removed from any revolutionary ideas, which is the typical journey for young American radicals then and now. I'd note her tenure as head of PEN showed she still maintained some idealism, even the wrong-headed variety, into old age.
I can tell you it's nearly impossible to be more different than my parents and Prose, Anthony Russo, and their crowd of privileged college grads involved in the anti-war movement, free love, dabbling in eastern spirituality, and generally doing anything to rile up the establishment and squares. You can see their descendents now at Columbia and Cal in protests, praising murderous theocratic militias in the name of "anti-colonialsm," in polycules, and being the vanguard of both gentrification and progressive politics. This was the same pattern of the San Francisco Prose romanticized in the book.
Prose needed to write about Anthony Russo, who was the lesser known guy involved in the Pentagon Papers leak. Younger readers, or those unlike me with an obsession with the 60s (which ended in the mid-70s) and the 90s, may not be familiar with the Pentagon Papers. Google them. Set the tone for the turning of the tide of public opinion against American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Russo was smart, had the courage of his convictions, and more than likely was caught up in the idealism of the era (which often made heroes of murderers and some very bad actors). He was also mentally unwell. Prose was attracted to him in ways deeper than physical and carried those memories for the rest of her life. She needed to write about him. I get the sense that this was therapeutic. I would've liked to have known more about the life of Russo after the 1970s. We got nothing until he dies in 2008.
In writing about Russo and 1974, Prose also takes us from her 1960s idealism to her life of comfort and wealth very far removed from any revolutionary ideas, which is the typical journey for young American radicals then and now. I'd note her tenure as head of PEN showed she still maintained some idealism, even the wrong-headed variety, into old age.
July 11, 2024
A Moving Memoir
I was drawn to this book because like Francine Prose, I too as a young woman lived in San Francisco in 1974. Other than the date and setting, I didn’t know what to expect. But her vivid memories of the city in the early 70’s, her tentative thoughts on relationships with friends and ersatz lovers felt familiar, haunting and honest. It captured that long ago time and place- the drifting, the fear, the uninformed hero-worshiping, the heartfelt political passions, the confusions around the free love ethos, the limitations of being a feminist in those days. I am always looking for observant, articulate people to make sense of coming of age in that historical moment, and Prose’s deeply touching personal history, looking back from the vantage of 50 years, shed some light for me on the subject. This book will stick with me.
I was drawn to this book because like Francine Prose, I too as a young woman lived in San Francisco in 1974. Other than the date and setting, I didn’t know what to expect. But her vivid memories of the city in the early 70’s, her tentative thoughts on relationships with friends and ersatz lovers felt familiar, haunting and honest. It captured that long ago time and place- the drifting, the fear, the uninformed hero-worshiping, the heartfelt political passions, the confusions around the free love ethos, the limitations of being a feminist in those days. I am always looking for observant, articulate people to make sense of coming of age in that historical moment, and Prose’s deeply touching personal history, looking back from the vantage of 50 years, shed some light for me on the subject. This book will stick with me.
July 6, 2024
If you're from California and old enough to remember, much of the book's set-up may strike you as political and social history unappealingly warmed over for the 47th time. If not, it's worth reading to measure how many light-years the culture has traveled in 50 calendar years.
I suppose it's always hard for young people to grow up. This book evokes how peculiarly difficult that process was for anyone conscious as the '60s spun into the '70s. 1974 was the year I graduated high school, and this book brought back many bad memories, ones better still forgotten.
I suppose it's always hard for young people to grow up. This book evokes how peculiarly difficult that process was for anyone conscious as the '60s spun into the '70s. 1974 was the year I graduated high school, and this book brought back many bad memories, ones better still forgotten.
April 17, 2024
4.5. I really enjoyed this thoughtful and engaging memoir about a time when the author was young, not seasoned and confused by her relationship with Tony Russo. Russo was one of the men who stole the Pentagon papers and he was charismatic, passionate and a little crazy. I remember those times and I was about the same age as she was,so it definitely resonated with me. Her honesty and fearlessness in portraying herself with flaws exposed was very admirable. Wonderful writing.
June 1, 2024
Excellent read. Was starting college in a small southern town and all I knew about this time frame was what we heard from television and the local newspaper. Reading about it from someone actually involved with another person who was part of what was happening in Vietnam and with the Pentagon Papers actually brought lots of things to light, especially learning what the Pentagon papers were all about.
June 17, 2024
I've never read a book by Prose so I'm not quite sure why I decided to read this memoir. I found the framing of the book around the year 1974 to be intriguing. Fortunately I had background and interest in the Pentagon Papers because that history plays a large role in this book. Now that I've read this, I will seek out some of her fiction. Probably not the right book for me but for those who have read Prose, this should be good. ARC courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.
April 17, 2024
I wasn’t sure what to think going into this book, but I found it an interesting posit of thoughts about the 1970s and a lot of different topics important to the time and now.
While it explores certain things more than others, it has a few different through lines that I found really interesting and enjoyable to read about.
While it explores certain things more than others, it has a few different through lines that I found really interesting and enjoyable to read about.
June 24, 2024
“1974” is the first book I’ve read by Francine Prose. It’s her newest book, but after finishing it, I want to read more of her work. “1974” is a sad story but an informative one about how much we misjudge life in our youth and how that can damage us as we age and learn.
July 10, 2024
Good writing but the subject matter is repeated a lot, the book could be half its size, and the ending was a little flat. It's like a collection of vignettes - okay for a casual read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2024
Interesting!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews