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Guns Under the Bed

Memories of a Young Revolutionary

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About this listen

It is 1969, and Jody A. Forrester is in her late teens, transitioning from '60s love child to pacifist anti-Vietnam War activist to an ardent revolutionary. Guns Under the Bed: Memories of a Young Revolutionary revolves around her three years in the Revolutionary Union, a Communist organization advocating armed overthrow of the ruling class. In readiness for the uprising, she sleeps with two rifles underneath her bed.

One of millions protesting the war, what sets Jody apart her from her peers is her decision to join a group espousing Mao Tse Tung’s ideology of class war. But why? How does she come to embrace violence as the only solution to the inequities inherent in a capitalist empire? To answer that question, Jody goes into her past and in the process comes to realize that what she always thought of as political is also deeply personal.

More than a coming-of-age story, this memoir tells the more universal truths about seeking a sense of belonging not found in her family with themes of shame, pride, secrecy, self-valuation, and self-acceptance explored in context of the culture and politics of that volatile period in American history.

©2020 Jody A. Forrester (P)2021 Odyssey Books Pty Ltd Activists Politics & Activism War
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This is one of the best books I've encountered in 3 years of listening to mainly novels. The story goes from engaging to gripping, it's beautifully written, with vividly clear descriptions that keep you alongside Foster through several decades of real adventures, with finely observed details of what people said, felt and did. But as a person of a similar age living through the same political and social turmoil, I can say she conveys it with such clarity that she resurrects my own otherwise forgotten memories of those years.

It was very hard to believe what I was listening to actually happened to her, because Foster's journey was mind blowing. I was transfixed by her adventures, hardships and growth along the way. And to describe so honestly the disturbing events in her teenage years must have been difficult to write, revealing what her family and friends would never have known. But she wisely remarks that this leads to a growth and empathy from her family and friends that few people would experience. Foster should be very very proud of this achievement.

Lastly, the narrator, Ms Orans, did a beautiful job bringing the story, emotions and drama to life.

A memoir that transfixes you like a great novel

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